Patrick Hermann scored the winner as Borussia Monchengladbach continued their bid for Champions League football by beating Stuttgart 1-0.

Monchengladbach were left frustrated for long spells of the first half, as Stuttgart approached their defensive task stubbornly to reduce the chances on offer to the visitors.

© Getty Images

Stuttgart were happy to sit on the back foot, and their eagerness to operate on the counter-attack created a good opportunity for Timo Werner, who tested Yann Sommer with a low strike from the edge of the box.

After allowing Monchengladbach to dominate in the first half, it was Stuttgart who got onto the front foot after the break as Georg Niedermeier headed just wide from a corner.

Niedermeier would go close again with another header after finding more space from a corner, but it was the away side who broke the deadlock with 19 minutes remaining.

Branimir Hrgota was gifted too much space to run at the Stuttgart defence and he responded by laying off the ball to Hermann, who fired his strike home in emphatic fashion.

Monchengladbach finished the stronger of the two sides after taking the lead, but they were unable to add another goal as Stuttgart failed to launch a late response.