The visitors missed a great chance to take the lead early on, with Andrej Kramaric shooting straight at Moritz Nicolas from close range after he was put through by Fisnik Asllani. Gladbach duly responded and went in front through Tomas Brolin, who connected with Wael Mohya’s chest-down as the ball trickled in off the post.
After the news that UCL-chasing rivals Stuttgart had also taken the lead, things went from bad to worse for Hoffenheim when Gladbach doubled their advantage through Haris Tabakovic against his parent club, as the ball fell kindly to him from a deflected cross to slot home his 13th goal this season.
Despite what was at stake for Hoffenheim, it was the hosts who looked more likely to add to their tally, with Ozan Kabak preventing a certain goal from Nico Elvedi with a brilliant block, before Tabakovic was denied his brace as Oliver Baumann held onto his point-blank header from a corner.
Things needed to change in the second half for the visitors, but their chances of producing an almighty comeback were further thwarted when Tim Lemperle was shown a second yellow card almost immediately for a silly challenge on Kevin Diks, reducing Hoffenheim to 10 men.
More pain was almost inflicted after the hour mark when Tabakovic finished neatly into the bottom corner, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
There was no denying the third goal from Diks though, who superbly curled into the top corner from the edge of the box after Elvedi’s lay-off.
Gladbach’s afternoon got better with the return of last season’s top scorer, Tim Kleindienst, from a long-term injury, while the icing on the cake was put on by substitute Robin Hack, who calmly slotted past Baumann in a late one-on-one situation.
As a result, Gladbach stretched their unbeaten home league run to seven games (W4, D3), ensuring a comfortable mid-table finish. Hoffenheim have to settle for a UEFA Europa League (UEL) spot in the end, but their fifth-placed finish is their best since 2017/18.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kevin Diks (Borussia Monchengladbach)