Borussia Mönchengladach captain Lars Stindl scored one and made another as the Foals returned to the Bundesliga summit - albeit level on points with RB Leipzig - following a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Paderborn on Wednesday.

Gladbach 2-0 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Plea (46'), 2-0 Stindl (pen. 67')

Having played in Wolfsburg on Saturday and with a trip to Hertha Berlin coming up this weekend, Gladbach coach Marco Rose made six changes to his side as he looked to keep his side fresh in a busy week. That may have been why the hosts initially had some difficulty finding their rhythm in the first half against a Paderborn outfit battling intent on clawing their way off the foot of the table. There was little by way of goalmouth action at either end of the pitch, although Kai Pröger's stinging drive at Yann Sommer from a tight angle did draw appreciative applause from the crowd. Nevertheless, the Foals could have taken the lead on the stroke of half-time when Lars Stindl was sent clean through, only to be denied by goalkeeper Leopold Zingerle.

The deadlock was broken within seconds of the restart though, when Patrick Herrmann forced Jamilu Collins into a mistake, before passing to Stindl to tee up Plea to sweep home from 12 yards. Paderborn should perhaps have equalised shortly afterwards when Streli Mamba found the unmarked Cualy in the Gladbach box, but the Brazilian's first touch let him down and the hosts managed to clear. It proved to be a costly miss as Gladbach extended their lead midway through the half when Herrmann was awarded a penalty after a VAR consultation and Stindl stepped up to lash the spot-kick home. The result was never in doubt after that and although Gladbach rarely threatened to score again, they kept Paderborn at bay to go level with Leipzig on 34 points.

Match stats

• Plea scored just 12.3 seconds after kick-off in the second half.
• It was the France international's first Bundesliga goal since the 5-1 win over Augsburg on 6 October 2019.
• Stefan Lainer was the only Gladbach outfield player to have started all 23 of the Foals' competitive games this season prior to this match. He missed out here through injury.
• Stindl has now converted two of the four penalties he has taken in the Bundesliga.
• Gladbach are unbeaten in all five of their competitive meetings with Paderborn, and have won the last four.
• Herrmann was substituted off for the 140th time in his Bundesliga career, equalling the league record.

Watch: Stindl: "We'll throw everything at Hertha"

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Line-ups

Gladbach: Sommer (c) - Elvedi, Ginter, Jantschke, (Bensebaini 80') Neuhaus, Hofmann, Zakaria - Herrmann (Johnson 88'), Stindl (Thuram 78'), Plea
Unused subs: Sippel, Strobl, Kramer, Raffael, Benes, Embolo
Out: Poulsen (ankle), Lainer (knee)
Coach: Marco Rose

Paderborn: Zingerle - Jans, Kilian, Schonlau (c), Collins - Pröger, Vasiliadis, Gjasula (Zolinski 67'), Holtmann (Cauly 58') - Michel (Antwi-Adelj 86'), Mamba
Unused subs: Huth, Hünemeier, Strohdiek, Ritter, Sabiri, Dräger
Out: -
Coach: Steffen Baumgart

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