Gladbach stay top thanks to Embolo double

Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Breel Embolo scored twice, set up another and also missed a penalty as the league leaders beat Freiburg 4-2 in a rollercoaster game on Sunday to stay one point clear at the top.

The Foals bounced back after last week's shock loss to Union Berlin to move up to 28 points, one ahead of RB Leipzig, with their fourth win in their last five league games.

"It was an intense game and both teams contributed to that. We deserved the win but Freiburg did have the chances to level," Gladbach coach Marco Rose, who is enjoying a dream debut season in the Bundesliga, told reporters.

"I am satisfied with the result as well as our performance. We could have scored more goals towards the end."

Next week Gladbach host champions Bayern Munich, who suffered a shock 2-1 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, dropping to fourth place on 24 points.

The game got off to a fiery start with Gladbach taking the lead through Marcus Thuram in the third minute before Freiburg, who had lost only one of their previous nine league games, levelled with Jonathan Schmid scoring from a free kick three minutes later.

Embolo put the ball in the net a little later but his effort was ruled offside before Thuram hit the post for the hosts.

Gladbach, however, shot out of the blocks after the restart, with the 22-year-old Embolo putting them ahead in the 46th minute from a Patrick Herrmann assist and then missing a penalty two minutes later.

Yet he quickly made amends and returned the favour to Herrmann, setting him up for their third in the 51st as Freiburg looked rattled.

The visitors bounced back, however, to cut the deficit through Lucas Hoeler. They also went agonisingly close to an equaliser but Glabdach's Ramy Bensebaini cleared the ball off the line.

Instead it was the hosts who scored again with man-of-the-match Embolo restoring their two-goal cushion in the 71st.