Borussia Dortmund went unbeaten in the first match of a calendar year for the 12th time in a row, and have won eight and drawn four in this period. The last defeat at the start of a year came in January 2004.

Maximum points: BVB have completed a Bundesliga double over VfL for the first time in six years and extended their lead over them to 12 points.

Another opener for Reus: Marco Reus is one of only three players - FC Bayern's Thomas Müller and 1. FC Köln's Anthony Modeste are the others - to score an opening goal five times this season. In total, it was his 67th competitive goal for Borussia Dortmund - four of which have come against former club Mönchengladbach.

Unstoppable: Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been involved in 36 goals (16 goals, 20 assists) in 29 competitive games. In the last four matches before the winter break, the Armenian always accumulated at least one scorer point; in Gladbach he continued the run with his seventh league goal of the season and the assist for Gündogan's goal.

New faces: Long-term injury absentee and world champion Erik Durm was named in the BVB squad for the first time this season, while 17-year-old USA youngster Christian Pulisic made his first-ever appearance in the first-team squad. The young attacking midfielder has been at the club since the start of 2015.

Stronghold: Mats Hummels delivered a very focused performance, making almost no misplaced passes in BVB's build-up play and winning 71% of his challenges. (br)