Union Berlin beat Monchengladbach to recapture Bundesliga lead

BERLIN, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Union Berlin came from behind on Sunday to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 and leapfrog Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga standings.

The Eisernen caught the better start on home soil and came close with seven minutes played when Janik Haberer's shot was blocked by Joe Scally.

Monchengladbach needed some time to gain a foothold into the clash and created their first chance with 24 minutes played, after Alassane Plea tested Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow with a free-kick.

The hosts thought they had broken the deadlock five minutes later, but Rami Khedira's long-range effort was disallowed due to handball.

It was Gladbach who opened the scoring out of the blue at the half-hour mark after Nico Elvedi made the most of Lars Stindl's corner.

Gladbach ceased their offensive actions after the restart and handed over control to Union.

The Eisernen pushed forward but lacked in accuracy against a well-positioned Gladbach defence.

Union were eventually rewarded for their efforts in the 79th minute when Diogo Leite's pinpoint cross into the box allowed Kevin Behrens to level the score.

The hosts increased the pressure and had another goal overruled as Christopher Trimmel's header was ruled offside eight minutes later.

Gladbach couldn't hold the pace in the closing stages, while Union were rewarded for their dominance as Jamie Leweling's cross found Danilho Doekhi, whose diving header sealed the home win.

"Anything can happen in football. You must stay focussed for 90 minutes. It is of course a disappointing result for us. We played well in the first half and grabbed the deserved lead. In the second half we failed to take the heat off our defence," said Monchengladbach head coach Daniel Farke.

"We staged a dominant second half. We scored several goals and never gave up. Fantastic performance by the boys," said Union head coach Urs Fischer.

Elsewhere, third-placed Freiburg extended their unbeaten run to four straight games after edging newly-promoted Schalke thanks to a brace from Vincenzo Grifo, while Cologne and Hoffenheim played out a 1-1 draw.