Lars Stindl scored his sixth goal of the season to pave the way for Borussia Mönchengladbach to inflict another heavy defeat on Shakhtar Donetsk to cement top spot in UEFA Champions League Group B on Wednesday.

Gladbach 4-0 Shakhtar
Goals: 1-0 Stindl (pen. 17), 2-0 Elvedi (34'), 3-0 Embolo (45'+1), 4-0 Wendt (77')

Gladbach made a lightning start when they thumped Shakhtar 6-0 at the start of the month, and they flew out of the traps in similar fashion here. Marcus Thuram and Breel Embolo had early openings before Florian Neuhaus spurned a golden opportunity, flashing wide of the post with the goal at his mercy. Shakhtar were unable to live with the hosts' high press and soon conceded a penalty, Serhiy Kryvtsov tripping Thuram after he had played a brilliant one-two with Stindl. The Gladbach captain coolly stroked home the spot-kick to give Marco Rose's side a deserved lead. Embolo grazed the outside of the post a few minutes later, but it was Nico Elvedi who doubled the Foals' advantage, heading in Stindl's pinpoint corner delivery at the front post. After several near-misses Embolo finally got his goal too, and in some style: the Swiss international firing in a bicycle kick to give his side a commanding 3-0 lead at half-time.

With nothing left to lose, the visitors were much improved at the start of the second half, getting forward with greater purpose and more confidence than they had shown in the first 45 minutes. Still, they struggled to get behind a well-organised Gladbach rearguard, although Junior Moraes should have done better than fire into the side netting after rounding Yann Sommer - even if the flag was subsequently raised for offside. Oscar Wendt put the result beyond all doubt in the 77th minute when his curling free-kick from the right evaded everyone in the Shakhtar area before bouncing in at the back post. The away side had a smattering of chances in the closing stages, with Sommer twice producing brilliant stops to deny Tete and keep a clean sheet in a win that consolidated the Foals' place at the Group B summit.

Match stats

• Gladbach scored 13 goals in their two previous Champions League campaigns, but already have 14 so far in the 2020/21 groups.
• Rose’s side have scored all six penalties they have been awarded in all competitions this term (three for Stindl, two for Jonas Hofmann and one for Ramy Bensebaini).
• Wendt's goal was his first in the Champions League.
• Plea is Borussia’s top scorer in this term’s Champions League with three goals.
• The Foals are on course to reach the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in three attempts.
• It was against Bundesliga opposition that Shakhtar suffered their heaviest European defeat, losing 7-0 at Bayern Munich in the their 2014/15 Champions League round of 16 second leg.

Line-ups

Gladbach: Sommer - Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt - Kramer, Neuhaus (Zakaria 69') - Lazaro (Herrmann 69'), Stindl (c) (Benes 81'), Thuram (Traore 84') - Embolo (Plea 69')
Unused subs: Sippel, Grün, Lang, Jantschke, Poulsen
Out: Bensebaini (not included), Hofmann (thigh)
Coach: Marco Rose 

Shakhtar: Pyatov (c) - Dodo, Kryvtsov, Bondar, Matviyenko - Marlos (Marcos Antonio 71'), Stepanenko, Alan Patrick (Maycon 81') - Tete, Solomon (Fernando 59') - Moraes
Unused subs: Shevchenko, Trubin, Marquinhos, Vitao, Bolbat, Sudakov
Out: Dentinho (not included) Ismaily (knee), Khocholava (not included), Konoplyanka (groin), Korniyenko (ankle), Kovalenko (not included), Malyshev (knee), Trubin (not included)
Coach: Luis Castro

 As it happened!

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