Berlin, March 23 (IANS) Despite extending their winning streak, Bayern Munich have to wait for their 24th title as pursuers Dortmund and Schalke wrapped victories in German Bundesliga football.
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich extended their unbeaten run with a 2-0 win over Mainz to 51 games.
Yet the Bavarians have to wait to get their hands on the Bundesliga title as Dortmund and Schalke upset their plans with triumphs Saturday, reports Xinhua.
However, Bayern carries their chance to crown themselves to Tuesday, if they clinch a win over Hertha Berlin.
Mainz made Bayern’s life difficult as the hosts decided to attack the German giants instead of defending deep.
The visitors seemed surprised by Mainz’s resilience. Koo Ja Cheol and Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting fired off warning shots to test Bayern’s custodian Manuel Neuer.
Mainz opportunities were a wake up call for the front-runners as Pep Guardiola’s men piled on the pressure to put things on the right track.
Bastian Schweinsteiger broke the deadlock at the 82nd minute when he headed home Xherdan Shaqiri’s cross from the left wing.
The late opener took the wind out of Mainz’ sails as Mario Goetze made it 2-0, tapping into the open goal, following a build up play and square pass by Frenchman Franck Ribery four minutes later.
Bayern lead the standings with 74 points, followed by Dortmund (51). Mainz slipped from the fifth to sixth place with 41 points.
Dortmund reaped a comfortable 3-0 victory over Hannover 96 to postpone Bayern’s title party. With the victory Juergen Klopp’s men defended their second place in the standings. Hannover occupy the 11th place
Schalke 04 also remained in touching distance of second placed Dortmund as the “Royal Blues” sealed a 3-1 victory over bottom side Braunschweig.
Schalke remain on third place with 50 points whilst Braunschweig sit on the bottom with just 18 points.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg and Augsburg shared the spoils in the hunt of a place in Europe following a 1-1 draw.
Monchengladbach reaped the first win in 2014 when they edged Berlin 3-0 and Alexandru Maxim donated a winner for relegation threatened Stuttgart to ensure a 1-0 win over 10-men Hamburg.