Praise from Kovac: "Gave it their all and worked hard to earn the points" | OneFootball

The 3-2 win against Gladbach was close, but well-deserved in the light of the 12-6 shots on goal. Gladbach only managed one shot in the second half – the highly controversial penalty that saw Kevin Stöger pull them back within one goal at 3-2.

Borussia Dortmund won but did not shine like they did five days earlier in a 3-1 win against Barcelona, but the home win against Borussia Mönchengladbach did see them leapfrog their opponents in the table. Kovac and his coaching staff "chose the team that played so well against Barcelona," with the pacey and direct Beier and Adeyemi operating behind centre-forward Guirassy, but they did show weaknesses in the game going forward against a well-positioned and uncompromising opponent.

Maxi Beier experienced that first hand in the 27th minute when he was cleaned out by Julian Weigl and was unfortunate to take a knock on his calf. "I hope nothing too serious happened," Kovac said at the press conference on Sunday evening: "But if Maxi comes off – and he is someone who can really play through gritted teeth – then that says a lot."

Carney Chukwuemeka replaced him. In terms of the game itself it was actually a stroke of luck through misfortune. Chukwuemeka brought something different to the team that helped the Black & Yellows. "He was the gamechanger," said Kovac. The 21-year-old won 09 of his first ten duels (a strong 76 percent in total) and played a decisive role in each of the three BVB goals, winning the ball before passing it forward. "Carney is fantastic on the ball. He is someone who picks up the pace quickly, and attacks the opponent immediately. When you score the first goal in Dortmund," said Kovac, "and then the second follows, then we all know what happens in this stadium with our great fans."

Between the 41st minute and half time, Serhou Guirassy, Felix Nmecha and Daniel Svensson scored in quick succession to make it 1-1, 2-1 and 3-1. Gladbach's defence was more compact again in the second leg, while the Dortmund team made the wrong decision in a couple of promising situations, but brought the narrow victory comfortably over the line. "After Bayern Munich and Barcelona, it was another energy-sapping game. The team fought, gave it their all and worked really hard to earn the three points," Kovac stressed.

That means BVB's haul since the end of March is four wins, a draw and a defeat (in Barcelona). Things are clearly moving in the right direction. A team that had only managed to follow up a Champions League match with a Bundesliga victory – under Mike Tullberg in the victories against Donetsk and Heidenheim – built on the 3-1 win against Barcelona and defeated Mönchengladbach. "It's a positive development," said Kovac: "If we exclude the 4-0 defeat in Barcelona, we have put in consistent performances and shown a good development." The coach praised the attitude, but also noted: "A coach is never satisfied. We have won, and we are pleased about that, but there are still things that we need to improve on. That's what we will work on."

The routine of "game, recovery, final training session, game, recovery, final training session, game" has come to an end. Kovac now has the luxury of something he has only had twice since taking office on February 3: full weeks of training with his full squad available. And he wants the team to look straight ahead, not to the right or left, and not at the results of the competition. Kovac stressed: "The match in a week's time in Hoffenheim is the most important thing. We need to win it, and then see what's going on next. The focus is on us."