Arjen Robben hit a hat-trick as Bayern Munich opened a 20-point lead with a 5-1 Bundesliga win at ten-man Schalke 04 who suffered a second drubbing in four days. Having been hammered 6-1 at home by Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid on Wednesday in the Champions League last 16, Schalke were again put to the sword as Bayern went 4-0 up inside half an hour.
With just three minutes gone, left-back David Alaba netted a free-kick, then Robben scored either side of Mario Mandzukic's header from a superb Alaba cross to make it 4-0 at the break. Schalke were gifted a goal when Jefferson Farfan's corner was turned into his own net by Munich right-back Rafinha, in for captain Philipp Lahm, with 25 minutes left.
To compound Schalke's misery at Munich's Allianz Arena, Greece centre-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos was shown a straight red for bringing down Mandzukic in the area. His foul allowed Robben to wrap up his hat-trick with a 77th-minute penalty. Bayern extended their record unbeaten league run to 48 matches, dating back to October 2012, and earned their 15th straight league victory.
Earlier, Borussia Dortmund built on their midweek Champions League victory over Zenit St Petersburg by going second with a 3-0 win at home against Nuremberg. Jurgen Klopp's side backed up Tuesday's 4-2 last 16, first-leg win in Russia to leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen who crashed 1-0 at home to Mainz, their fifth straight defeat and eighth loss in 10 games.
Leverkusen's dreadful form continued with their fourth straight home defeat as Mainz moved up to sixth with their fifth win in eight games. A horrendous error by Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen cost Borussia Moenchengladbach their place in the top six following a 1-1 draw at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig and left them winless in their last eight games.
Hertha BSC has left important points in the battle for European places in the Bundesliga. On Friday Berlin played after a tactically influenced game with a few high points against SC Freiburg 0-0.
VfL Wolfsburg's hopes of breaking into the Bundesliga's top four suffered a setback on Sunday after being drubbed 6-2 at mid-table Hoffenheim. Wolfsburg finished the match with 10 men as German international Christian Traesch was sent off.
VfB Stuttgart are fourth from bottom after losing 1-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt in what was a club record eighth straight defeat and heaped further pressure on coach Thomas Schneider. Stuttgart striker Martin Harnik's first-half goal was cancelled out by Eintracht midfielder Jan Rosenthal ten minutes from time before captain Alexander Meier hit the 89th-minute winner.
The fixtures:
The match on Friday (8.30 pm cet):
Hertha BSC - SC Freiburg 0-0
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
FC Augsburg - Hannover 96 1-1 (0-1)
Borussia Dortmund - 1. FC Nürnberg 3-0 (0-0)
Bayer Leverkusen - FSV Mainz 05 0-1 (0-1)
Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV 1-0 (1-0)
Eintr. Braunschweig - Bor. Mönchengladbach 1-1 (0-1)
The match on Saturday (6.30 pm cet):
Bayern München - Schlkae 04 5-1 (4-0)
The match on Sunday (3.30 pm cet):
1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Wolfsburg 6-2 (4-1)
The match on Sunday (5.30 pm cet):
Eintracht Frankfurt - VfB Stuttgart 2-1 (0-1)
[sid/fl]
[bild1]
Arjen Robben hit a hat-trick as Bayern Munich opened a 20-point lead with a 5-1 Bundesliga win at ten-man Schalke 04 who suffered a second drubbing in four days. Having been hammered 6-1 at home by Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid on Wednesday in the Champions League last 16, Schalke were again put to the sword as Bayern went 4-0 up inside half an hour.
With just three minutes gone, left-back David Alaba netted a free-kick, then Robben scored either side of Mario Mandzukic's header from a superb Alaba cross to make it 4-0 at the break. Schalke were gifted a goal when Jefferson Farfan's corner was turned into his own net by Munich right-back Rafinha, in for captain Philipp Lahm, with 25 minutes left.
To compound Schalke's misery at Munich's Allianz Arena, Greece centre-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos was shown a straight red for bringing down Mandzukic in the area. His foul allowed Robben to wrap up his hat-trick with a 77th-minute penalty. Bayern extended their record unbeaten league run to 48 matches, dating back to October 2012, and earned their 15th straight league victory.
Earlier, Borussia Dortmund built on their midweek Champions League victory over Zenit St Petersburg by going second with a 3-0 win at home against Nuremberg. Jurgen Klopp's side backed up Tuesday's 4-2 last 16, first-leg win in Russia to leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen who crashed 1-0 at home to Mainz, their fifth straight defeat and eighth loss in 10 games.
Leverkusen's dreadful form continued with their fourth straight home defeat as Mainz moved up to sixth with their fifth win in eight games. A horrendous error by Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen cost Borussia Moenchengladbach their place in the top six following a 1-1 draw at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig and left them winless in their last eight games.
Hertha BSC has left important points in the battle for European places in the Bundesliga. On Friday Berlin played after a tactically influenced game with a few high points against SC Freiburg 0-0.
VfL Wolfsburg's hopes of breaking into the Bundesliga's top four suffered a setback on Sunday after being drubbed 6-2 at mid-table Hoffenheim. Wolfsburg finished the match with 10 men as German international Christian Traesch was sent off.
VfB Stuttgart are fourth from bottom after losing 1-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt in what was a club record eighth straight defeat and heaped further pressure on coach Thomas Schneider. Stuttgart striker Martin Harnik's first-half goal was cancelled out by Eintracht midfielder Jan Rosenthal ten minutes from time before captain Alexander Meier hit the 89th-minute winner.
The fixtures:
The match on Friday (8.30 pm cet):
Hertha BSC - SC Freiburg 0-0
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
FC Augsburg - Hannover 96 1-1 (0-1)
Borussia Dortmund - 1. FC Nürnberg 3-0 (0-0)
Bayer Leverkusen - FSV Mainz 05 0-1 (0-1)
Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV 1-0 (1-0)
Eintr. Braunschweig - Bor. Mönchengladbach 1-1 (0-1)
The match on Saturday (6.30 pm cet):
Bayern München - Schlkae 04 5-1 (4-0)
The match on Sunday (3.30 pm cet):
1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Wolfsburg 6-2 (4-1)
The match on Sunday (5.30 pm cet):
Eintracht Frankfurt - VfB Stuttgart 2-1 (0-1)
