Story highlights
Bayern Munich maintain two-point lead in German league after 3-0 win
Defeat leaves last season's runners-up Bayer Leverkusen in 10th place
Schalke move up to fifth with 4-2 victory over Freiburg under interim coach
Defending champions Borussia Dortmund eighth after away victory
Bayern Munich remained two points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga table after a comprehensive 3-0 win at home to last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Germany international Thomas Muller opened the scoring in the fifth minute from Franck Ribery’s cross, and Belgium defender Daniel van Buyten doubled the lead with a fierce low shot before 20 minutes were played.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben sealed the victory at the end after coming on as a 78th-minute substitute on his return from injury to keep Bayern in form ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League visit by big-spending English club Manchester City, making it six wins out of seven.
The defeat left Leverkusen, who host Belgian club Genk in Europe’s top club competition on Wednesday, down in 10th place.
Borussia Moenchengladbach briefly went top with a 1-0 victory at home to mid-table Nuremberg, as captain Filip Daems scored the only goal from the penalty spot with 14 minutes left after Marco Reus was fouled.
Schalke claimed fifth place after a 4-2 victory at home to Freiburg under the guidance of interim coach Seppo Eichkorn, with Ralf Rangnick having stood down for health reasons.
The visitors led in the third minute through Papiss Demba Cisse, but Jefferson Farfan equalized on 33 and second-half goals from Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, young forward Lewis Holtby and veteran Spaniard Raul made Erik Jendrisek’s 83rd-minute strike against his former club a mere consolation.
Hanover missed the chance to move into top three after being held 0-0 at third-bottom Augsberg, who have still yet to win in seven games since winning promotion.
Defending champions Borussia Dortmund moved up to eighth with a 2-1 victory at Mainz, as a last-minute volley from Poland international right-back Lukasz Piszczek ended their run of seven away games without a win ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Marseille in France.
Nicolai Muller opened the scoring in the 33rd on his full debut for Mainz, but young Croatia midfielder Ivan Perisic leveled on 64.
Wolfsburg overcome the first-half red card to Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos to beat Kaiserslautern 1-0, with Ashkan Dejagah heading the home team’s winner in the 63rd minute.
On Friday, bottom club Hamburg won 2-1 at mid-table Stuttgart.
