BERLIN, Dec. 9 -- Borussia Monchengladbach climbed back to the second spot after beating Stuttgart on three second-half goals and Mainz secured a late 1-1 draw against Hannover at the Bundesliga 14th round on Sunday.
From the starting whistle, Monchengladbach took the reins and dictated the pace on the pitch whereas Stuttgart defended deep and kept all their men behind the ball.
Goal-scoring opportunities were at premium in the first half. The hosts thought they had opened the scoring in the 27th minute but Alassane Plea's opener was ruled offside.
The Foals continued powerful but squandered a promising chance before the break when Stuttgart goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler defused Tobias Strobl's effort from close range in the 42nd minute.
After the restart, Monchengladbach started where they left off and yet they had to wait until the 69th minute before substitute Raffael broke the deadlock after heading home a pinpoint cross from substitute Florian Neuhaus.
Neuhaus remained in the thick of things as he doubled the lead only moments later as he curled the ball from inside the box into the far post corner with 77 minutes played.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the closing period as substitute Erik Thommy received his marching orders following a second bookable offense before defender Benjamin Pavard deflected a square pass from Lars Stindl into the wrong goal to make it 3-0.
With the result, Borussia Monchengladbach recapture the second place in the standings meanwhile Stuttgart stay on the 16th position.
Elsewhere, Mainz extended Hannover's winless streak to three games as Daniel Brosinski's late equalizer cancelled out Hedrik Weydandt's first-half opener to secure a 1-1 draw on home soil. Hannover had to complete the game with ten men as Oliver Sorg saw his second yellow card of the game.
The draw leaves Hannover on the 17th place, which is direct relegation spot, whereas Mainz continue on the 10 position of the table.