Borussia Dortmund consolidated second place in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Freiburg with veteran captain Sebastian Kehl netting the winner. Dortmund came to Freiburg without top-scoring Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, who has a knee strain, but still enjoyed their third straight win.
Jürgen Klopp's side grabbed the winner on 58 minutes when 34-year-old skipper Kehl curled home a 25-metre shot which gave Freiburg goalkeeper Oliver Baumann little chance. The result leaves Freiburg second from bottom while Dortmund are four-points clear in second, but remain 20 points behind run-away leaders Bayern Munich.
Mainz 05 and Hertha Berlin later on Sunday shared a point in a 1-1 draw as Colombia striker Adrian Ramos's goal was cancelled out by Eric Choupo-Moting's second-half penalty for hosts Mainz. The result leaves both sides within three points of the top six.
Bayern Munich went on Saturday at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 6-1 thrashing of Wolfsburg to record a 16th consecutive win and 49th match without defeat. With just 10 games left in the campaign, the European champions are virtually assured of defending their title after a sixth successive win over the 2009 champions.
Victory was also the perfect tonic ahead of Tuesday's Champions League last-16 tie against Arsenal where they will defend a 2-0 first leg lead. Naldo gave Wolfsburg a shock 17th-minute lead before Bayern, heading for a 24th national title, turned on the style. Pep Guardiola's side scored five times in 20 second-half minutes on Saturday and they have now hit 30 goals in eight games since the Bundesliga resumed after the winter break.
They have also scored 72 times since the start of the season with just 11 conceded. "We haven't been this dominant in recent matches," said Guardiola. "Wolfsburg were very well organised and very aggressive. They caused us a lot of problems in the first half and at the start of the second. "But we scored the goals we needed."
Wolfsburg's lead lasted just 10 minutes before Xherdan Shaqiri levelled. Thomas Mueller and former Wolfsburg striker Mario Mandzukic both scored twice in the second half. Mandzukic now has 16 league goals for the season while Franck Ribery added to the scoreline to mark his return to action after a month out through injury.
Borussia Dortmund can cut the gap to Bayern back to 20 points with victory at Freiburg on Sunday. Bayer Leverkusen are third after a 1-1 draw at Hanover in a game where their goalkeeper Bernd Leno saved a Szabolcs Huszti penalty. Schalke are in fourth place, also with 44 points, after seeing off Hoffenheim 4-0 with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hitting a hat-trick.
It was a welcome result for Schalke who had been routed 6-1 by Real Madrid and 5-1 at Bayern in their last two outings. Huntelaar could have had four goals but missed a 31st-minute penalty.
The fixtures:
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
VfL Wolfsburg - Bayern München 1-6 (1-1)
Borussia Mönchengladbach - FC Augsburg 1-2 (1-1)
Hannover 96 - Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 (1-1)
Schalke 04 - 1899 Hoffenheim 4-0 (2-0)
VfB Stuttgart - Eintracht Braunschweig 2-2 (2-1)
Hamburger SV - Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 (0-1)
The match on Saturday (6.30 pm cet): 1. FC Nürnberg - Werder Bremen 0-2 (0-1)
The match on Sunday (3.30 pm cet): SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund 0-1 (0-0)
The match on Sunday (5.30 pm cet): FSV Mainz 05 - Hertha BSC 1-1 (0-0)
