It was fifth vs seventh in the Bundesliga, which at this late stage of the season, had the feel of a six-pointer. Gladbach were the side doing the chasing, and they had the chance to leapfrog Leipzig with a win here.
The home side started on the front foot and manufactured the game’s first meaningful sighting of goal when Alassane Plea’s flick-on opened up a yard of space for Robin Hack, but his volley went straight into the grateful arms of Maarten Vandevoordt.
Leipzig were largely limited to shots from distance, something best illustrated by Xavi Simons’ effort from distance, which barely reached the goal line.
A drab first half was something few would’ve expected from two sides battling at the top end of the table, but with plenty to play for after the break, there was a sense that the second 45 couldn’t be any worse.
Leipzig set about ensuring the second half was much more entertaining from the get-go, working a glorious sighting of goal within a minute of the restart, but Christoph Baumgartner fired his effort inches over the bar. The Austrian was in the thick of the action moments later too, ghosting into the area to flash a header narrowly wide.
The visitors were left to rue those misses just moments later when Gladbach took the lead.
Ko Itakura thought he would be the man to get it, but his goalbound effort was only repelled as far as Plea, who duly converted from close range.
The Frenchman was purring after his goal, and he came within inches of doubling his and Gladbach’s tally for the day when his strike from the edge of the area crashed away off the post.
The woodwork was shaking again 20 minutes from time, but this time, it was Nico Elvedi whose headed effort bounced away to safety off the outside of the post.
The hosts will think they really should’ve had the game wrapped up to avoid a nervy ending, not least because they rattled the woodwork for a third time in the half through Plea, but their inability to convert one of those chances meant they had to endure a painful last few minutes.
They managed to hang on, though, securing three huge points in their battle to finish in the top six and consigning Leipzig to a fourth successive scoring blank on the road in the Bundesliga.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alassane Plea (Borussia Monchengladbach)