BERLIN, Feb. 18 -- Marco Reus's goal helped Borussia Dortmund to edge Borussia Monchengladbach meanwhile relegation threatened Stuttgart wrapped up a vital 1-0 win over Augsburg at the 23rd round in Bundesliga on Sunday.
The "BVB" secured their third win in row to jump on the second place after beating wasteful Monchengladbach, who left a number of chances unused to suffer their fourth consecutive defeat.
Dortmund assumed control from the kick off against cautious Monchengladbach. However, despite more possession, the visitors had to wait until the half-hour mark before Marco Reus curled the ball from inside the box over "Foal" goalkeeper Yann Sommer into the top-left far post corner for the opener.
The hosts regrouped and thought they had scored the leveller through Yannick Vestergaard but the video referee ruled the equalizer offside in the 43rd minute. Monchengladbach had another promising chance still Thorgan Hazard was unable to slot home from very close range second before the half-time whistle.
After the restart, Monchengladbach remained on the front foot but Dieter Hecking's men lacked in accuracy as Lars Stindl, Raul Bobadilla and Jonas Hofmann gave away goal-scoring opportunities.
Dortmund ceased their attacks and retracted with the narrow lead while Monchengladbach pressed forward. The host's efforts remained fruitless though as neither Nico Elvedi nor Bobadilla were able to overcome faultless Dortmund custodian Roman Buerki in the closing period.
With the win, Dortmund climb on the 2nd place meanwhile Monchengladbach continue on the 10th position of the Bundesliga standings.
Elsewhere, newly promoted Stuttgart ensured a much-needed victory over Augsburg as Mario Gomez scored the only goal of the encounter.
The second loss in row put cold water on Augsburg's hopes for a berth in Europe meanwhile Stuttgart snatched a crucial victory in the relegation battle.
The "Swabians" jump on the 13th place and established a four-point gap to the bottom three whereas Augsburg slumped to the 8th place after slipping out of Bundesliga's top six.
Eintracht Frankfurt and Leipzig will conclude the 23rd round in Bundesliga on Monday.