Freiburg returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-1 Bundesliga victory over second-placed Borussia Monchengladbach which started with a first-minute penalty at Schwarzwald Stadion on Friday.

The home side were awarded a spot-kick after just 10 seconds of play when Yann Sommer brought down Gian-Luca Waldschmidt in the box and Nils Petersen fired into the bottom-right corner to hand them an early lead.

Gladbach equalised with a penalty of their own midway through the first half after Dominique Heintz felled Lars Stindl. Thorgan Hazard stepped up and made no mistake as he found the top of the net with his eighth goal of the season.

Freiburg searched for a second before the break and their pressure paid off as they took the lead for the second time just before the hour mark as Waldschmidt slotted Janik Haberer’s assist into the bottom corner, before substitute Lucas Holer made it safe at the end.