Lucien Favre had the perfect start to his Borussia Moenchengladbach coaching position on Sunday as he took the Bundesliga strugglers to a 2-1 victory against Schalke 04.
The bottom team, who gave away a lead in their two last matches, this time turned things around as Peer Kluge gave Schalke an early lead before Marco Reus and Mohamadou Idrissou found the goals that gave the home side the victory.
Earlier Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen moved back into second place after beating struggling VfB Stuttgart 4-2.
Leverkusen, who are ten points behind runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund, had temporarily lost second place to Bayern Munich, who on Saturday won 3-1 at Mainz 05.
Schalke had the ideal start in Moenchengladbach as Kluge capitalized from a poor Dante clearance and managed to score the opening goal for his side after just two minutes.
However, the home side turned things around in the space of 11 minutes early on. Reuss equalized in the 12th minute with a powerful drive that gave Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer no chance.
Cameroon international Idrissou found the net with a close-range header midway through the first half to give his side the lead - and as it turned out later, the game.
Schalke pushed forward looking for another goal in the second half, but Moenchengladbach, who remain bottom with 19 points, managed to withstand the pressure.
Schalke are 10th with 29 points.
"That was fantastic, super. It was really important to pick up three points and it was deserved. We can still avoid the drop," former Hertha Berlin coach Favre said.
His Schalke counterpart Felix Magath said that his side, which achieved a good 1-1 Champions League draw in Valencia midweek, was disappointing.
"The Champions League obviously takes too much of our concentration and we are then no longer in a position to play to our potential," he said.
"A few of our players were hiding on the pitch," Neuer added.
In Leverkusen Stefan Kiessling opened for the home side early on with a 6th minute goal, but Austrian international Martin Harnik equalized just ten minutes later.
Any hopes Stuttgart, who are on a relegation place, had of going into the change rooms all-square were dashed four minutes from the break when Gonzalo Castro was the first to react after Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich parried a Castro shot.
Stuttgart, who are desperate for points to avoid the drop, levelled matters again in 52nd minute through Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
Somewhat luckily Stefan Reinartz put Leverkusen ahead for the second time nine minutes from time and Kiessling added a fourth in injury time to leave Stuttgart in serious trouble in 17th place with 19 points - four points behind Kaiserslautern.
Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler, who was at fault for Stuttgart's second goal, said after the match that he was very happy the side still won. "I am extremely releaved."
For Stuttgart though, there was just disappointment. "That is very, very unfortunate. This defeat is very disappointing and hurts a lot," said coach Bruno Labbadia.
"This is a tough set-back because we really did a lot right. We were closer to scoring a third goal than Leverkusen after equalizing for the second time," said Kuzmanovic.
Borussia Dortmund, who beat St Pauli 2-0 on Saturday, top the standings with 55 points.
The bottom team, who gave away a lead in their two last matches, this time turned things around as Peer Kluge gave Schalke an early lead before Marco Reus and Mohamadou Idrissou found the goals that gave the home side the victory.
Earlier Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen moved back into second place after beating struggling VfB Stuttgart 4-2.
Leverkusen, who are ten points behind runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund, had temporarily lost second place to Bayern Munich, who on Saturday won 3-1 at Mainz 05.
Schalke had the ideal start in Moenchengladbach as Kluge capitalized from a poor Dante clearance and managed to score the opening goal for his side after just two minutes.
However, the home side turned things around in the space of 11 minutes early on. Reuss equalized in the 12th minute with a powerful drive that gave Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer no chance.
Cameroon international Idrissou found the net with a close-range header midway through the first half to give his side the lead - and as it turned out later, the game.
Schalke pushed forward looking for another goal in the second half, but Moenchengladbach, who remain bottom with 19 points, managed to withstand the pressure.
Schalke are 10th with 29 points.
"That was fantastic, super. It was really important to pick up three points and it was deserved. We can still avoid the drop," former Hertha Berlin coach Favre said.
His Schalke counterpart Felix Magath said that his side, which achieved a good 1-1 Champions League draw in Valencia midweek, was disappointing.
"The Champions League obviously takes too much of our concentration and we are then no longer in a position to play to our potential," he said.
"A few of our players were hiding on the pitch," Neuer added.
In Leverkusen Stefan Kiessling opened for the home side early on with a 6th minute goal, but Austrian international Martin Harnik equalized just ten minutes later.
Any hopes Stuttgart, who are on a relegation place, had of going into the change rooms all-square were dashed four minutes from the break when Gonzalo Castro was the first to react after Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich parried a Castro shot.
Stuttgart, who are desperate for points to avoid the drop, levelled matters again in 52nd minute through Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
Somewhat luckily Stefan Reinartz put Leverkusen ahead for the second time nine minutes from time and Kiessling added a fourth in injury time to leave Stuttgart in serious trouble in 17th place with 19 points - four points behind Kaiserslautern.
Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler, who was at fault for Stuttgart's second goal, said after the match that he was very happy the side still won. "I am extremely releaved."
For Stuttgart though, there was just disappointment. "That is very, very unfortunate. This defeat is very disappointing and hurts a lot," said coach Bruno Labbadia.
"This is a tough set-back because we really did a lot right. We were closer to scoring a third goal than Leverkusen after equalizing for the second time," said Kuzmanovic.
Borussia Dortmund, who beat St Pauli 2-0 on Saturday, top the standings with 55 points.
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