Berlin, Dec 1 (IANS) The top three in German Bundesliga football wrapped up victories in the 14th round as leaders Bayern beat bottom team Braunschweig 2-0, Leverkusen cruised to a 3-0 over winless Nuremberg, and Dortmund carved out a 3-1 against Mainz.
The Bavarians dictate the pace atop the standings as Arjen Robben’s first half brace against newly promoted Braunschweig were enough to secure three points Saturday night in Munich, reports Xinhua.
The German giants grabbed a perfect start as Robben broke the deadlock to frighten the bottom side with just 111 seconds into the encounter. The Dutchman utilised a Mario Goetze’s long ball and rattled the post to head home his own rebound from penalty area.
Braunschweig showed no interest to threaten Bayern’s defence as they defended deep to leave the field to the hosts.
Yet, the visitors were only able to keep Pep Guardiola’s men on distance for 30 minutes as Toni Kroos assisted Robben, who provided the 2-0 lead with a well-placed shot into the top left corner.
Nonetheless, things changed with the restart as Bayern ceased their offensive actions allowing Braunschweig to gain a foothold into the match. But, neither Marco Caliguiri nor Dominik Kumbela were capable to beat Manuel Neuer and his defence.
Thus, Bayern cemented their first position with 38 points and a four-point lead. Meanwhile Braunschweig sit at the bottom with just eight points.
Robert Lewandowski’s two converted penalties helped Dortmund to win 3-1 at Mainz.
Things looked pretty good for Mainz at the first half, as they tested Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller a couple of times. After the interval Mainz still produced the better opportunities but it were the visitors that opened the scoring out of the blue, when Pierre Emerick Aubameyang netted a free kick goal from 24 meters at the 70th minute.
The hosts were able to respond with a foul play penalty, Lukasz Piszczek brought down Yunus Malli, as Erik Maxim Choupo Moting beat Weidenfeller from the spot to restore parity four minutes later.
It was a short-lived joy by the hosts as Lewandowski converted a handball penalty in the 78th minute. It was Lewandowski again, who killed the game in the dying minutes with his second converted penalty of the day. The two goals move the Polish international on top of the goal scorer standings.
Dortmund occupy third position with 31 points whereas Mainz dropped to 8th place with 19 points.
Leverkusen inflicted winless Nuremberg the sixth loss of the season to defend their second place. Leverkusen, also known as “Werkelf”, recovered from the hammering 0-5 defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League as Heung Min Sons double strike and Stefan Kiebling’s ninth goal of the season secured the 11th win.
Elsewhere, Bremen grabbed a last-second 4-4 draw at Hoffenheim in a dramatic affair. The visitors recovered from a 2-0 and 4-2 deficit to snatch one point on the road thanks to Philipp Bargfrede`s equalizer at the 90th minute.
Schalke’s Jefferson Farfan donated a brace to secure his side a 3-0 victory over unimaginative Stuttgart while Berlin and Augsburg share the spoils following goalless 90 minutes.