Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz scored twice and set up another goal as he steered the German champions to a comfortable 3-1 victory over visiting Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday to stay four points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Leverkusen suffered an early setback when Martin Terrier had to be taken off with an ankle injury after nine minutes and they found it tough going until Wirtz decided to take matters into his own hands.
The Germany international picked up a pass from Granit Xhaka well outside the box, then superbly shook off Ko Itakura before slotting home in the 32nd minute.
The 21-year-old doubled the lead with a well-taken 62nd- minute penalty to take his tally to nine league goals, and turned provider 12 minutes later, setting up Patrik Schick for the Czech's 12th league goal.
Gladbach grabbed a consolation in stoppage time through Tim Kleindienst.
Leverkusen, who travel to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, are in second place on 41 points with Bayern in top spot on 45 following their 3-2 win over VfL Wolfsburg.