Kalou hat-trick downs weary Gladbach

Berlin (AFP) – Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou bagged a hat-trick as Hertha Berlin defeated weary Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 to move into third spot in the Bundesliga on Friday.

The former Chelsea and Lille star allowed Hertha to maintain their 100 percent home record while Gladbach, who were playing just three days after drawing with Celtic in the Champions League, have now gone five successive Bundesliga games without scoring.

They were on the back foot for most of Friday’s game, slipping 2-0 down after just 33 minutes before being reduced to 10 men when Christoph Kramer was red-carded five minutes before the interval.

Kalou opened the scoring after 18 minutes, heading in a cross from Mitchell Weiser for his first of the season.

He added an easy second a quarter of an hour later after a botched clearance fell invitingly into his path.

Kramer then saw red for a foul on Fabian Lustenberger having earlier been cautioned for a clumsy challenge on Weiser.

Kalou completed his hat-trick with five minutes left in the game with Weiser again supplying the key pass.