BERLIN (AP) — Alassane Plea scored a hat trick as Borussia Moenchengladbach closed the gap on Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund with a 3-1 win at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
French striker Plea, Gladbach's record signing after arriving from Nice in the offseason, took his tally to eight goals in 11 games with three goals in a 13-minute spell either side of halftime.
The win put Gladbach one point behind Dortmund — ahead of Dortmund's home game against Bayern Munich later Saturday.
Bayern is three points behind Gladbach.
Fortuna Duesseldorf ended its six-game losing streak in the league with a 4-1 win at home over 10-man Hertha Berlin. Maximilian Mittelstaedt was sent off for a second yellow card in the 41st, and Takashi Usami opened the scoring early in the second half.
Also Saturday, Stuttgart ended Markus Weinzierl's three-game losing start as coach with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg; Hoffenheim beat Augsburg 2-1; and Mainz won 3-1 at Freiburg.
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