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Shinji Kagawa led Borussia Dortmund's fight back to floor Köln 6-1
Japan's Shinji Kagawa led Borussia Dortmund's fight back to floor 1. FC Köln 6-1 on Sunday and restore the defending champions' five-point lead at the top of the German league with seven games left. After second-placed Bayern Münchens's 2-1 home win over Hannover 96 on Saturday had trimmed Borussia's lead to just two points, Dortmund replied in style to score five second-half goals without reply at Cologne.
Dortmund are on course for the domestic double and play Bayern in the German Cup final on May 12 in Berlin.
Schalke 04 moved up to third with a 2-0 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday as Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored with headers either side of half-time. Borussia Möchengladbach slipped back to fourth when they threw away the lead to lose 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim, which leaves them six points behind Bayern and eight behind Dortmund.
Kaiserslautern coach Krassimir Balakov, who took over after Marco Kurz was sacked in midweek, had an unhappy start as his team were beaten 2-0 at Freiburg to remain bottom of the league. It was Kaiserslautern's 17th league game without a win and means they are now six points adrift at the bottom.
The win lifts Freiburg to 13th and drops Hamburg to 16th and into the relegation places after they lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg on Friday night. Hertha Berlin remain second from bottom despite their 3-1 win at Mainz but things are tight at the bottom as only two points separate Hertha in 17th and 13th-placed Freiburg.
The match on Friday (8.30 pm cet):
VfL Wolfsburg - Hamburger SV 2:1 (0:0)
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
SC Freiburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-0 (2-0)
Werder Bremen - FC Augsburg 1-1 (0-0)
Bayern München - Hannover 96 2-1 (1-0)
Mönchengladbach - 1899 Hoffenheim 1-2 (1-0)
Mainz 05 - Hertha BSC 1-3 (0-1)
The match on Saturday (6.30 pm cet):
Schalke 04 - Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 (1-0)
The match on Sunday (3.30 pm cet):
VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Nürnberg 1-0 (0-0)
The match on Sunday (5.30 pm cet):
1. FC Köln - Borussia Dortmund 1-6 (1-1)
