Second-half goals from Havard Nordtveit and Ibrahima Traore gave hosts Borussia Monchengladbach a hard-fought 2-0 victory over visitors Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga this afternoon.
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The pace of the encounter failed to pick up until after the 10-minute mark, but the contest soon burst into life when Gladbach's Lars Stindl crashed an effort into the left post from the centre of the Wolfsburg area.
Andre Schurrle attempted to respond for the visiting side, but the former Chelsea man could not find a way past Tobias Sippel in the middle of the Borussia goal.
Both sides failed to muster much in the final third in the first period, but Monchengladbach's Raffael was unlucky not to find a way past Diego Benaglio, who reacted well down low to stop the striker's effort from distance.
Neither side appeared likely to grab a winning goal going into the remaining 15 minutes, but Borussia somehow managed to grab a vital goal through Nordtveit, who finished beyond Benaglio to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Wolfsburg's misery was compounded with 11 minutes remaining when Traore snatched the hosts' second of the game to ensure that they took all three points on home soil.
Christopher Dodd
