Pléa hat-trick fires Gladbach to win at the Weserstadion
Alassane Pléa bagged a hattrick to earn Borussia Mönchengladbach a 3-1 win against Werder Bremen.
During the summer, Borussia Mönchengladbach broke their transfer record to sign Alassane Pléa from Nice for €23 million - and he has justified the price tag right from the start.
Pléa has been a revelation this season, and the French striker stole the show once again today as he bagged a hattrick against Werder Bremen and led Gladbach to a 3-1 win at the Weserstadion.
The 25-year-old sent Gladbach ahead at the end of the first half as he showed some nifty footwork inside the Werder area before slotting the ball past Jiri Pavlenka.
Shortly after the break, Pléa made it 2-0 after Thorgan Hazard found him with a low ball from a corner kick. With 52 minutes on the clock, Pléa completed his hattrick after Oscar Wendt slided the ball across to him. The goal was Pléa's eighth of the season, and that makes him the Bundesliga's top scorer.
Gladbach took the foot a bit off the pedal after the 3-0 goal, and seven minutes later, Nuri Sahin got a goal back for Werder. The home side created numerous chances to get further back in the game, but weren't able to get the ball past Gladbach's Yann Sommer again.
The win means Gladbach put pressure on Borussia Dortmund and Bayern München ahead of tonight's 'Der Klassiker'. 'Die Fohlen' are sitting second in the table - one point behind league leaders Dortmund and three points ahead of Bayern München who are in third place.
Elsewhere, Fortuna Düsseldorf (4-1 against Hertha BSC) and Stuttgart (2-0 against FC Nürnberg) both took rare wins, Mainz won 3-1 away at Freiburg while Hoffenheim beat Augsburg 2-1 thanks to a Reiss Nelson winner.