Bayern back on track, Dortmund remain unbeatable in German Bundesliga

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-9-15 9:09:52

Bayern earns their fourth win of the season with two second-half goals against Hannover whereas Dortmund staged a goal festival against Hamburg to secure the fifth win in as many matches on Saturday.

German treble winner Bayern Munich lost their last match to Freiburg therefore a win was a must so as not to lose Dortmund out of sight. Meanwhile, Hannover looked to consolidate their third place.

Bayern controlled the proceedings on the pitch from the kick off while Hannover adjusted their lines to see off attacks by the hosts. However, Bayern consider themselves lucky not to take a deficit into the break as Didier Ya Konan's deflected effort was denied by the inside of the post.

The German giants stuck to their guns and were finally able to overcome Hannover bulwark when Mario Mandzukic exploited Toni Kroos' square pass to slot home from eleven meters at the 51st minute.

The hosts took advantage of their momentum as they added a second goal to the scoreboards at the 63rd minute. Frenchmen Franck Ribery capitalized on a rebound inside the box to kill the game with the 2-0 lead. Ya Konan squandered the chance to reduce the lead minutes later as his header just rattled the left post.

Dortmund remain atop the standings as they crushed Hamburg 6-2. The hosts established a 2-0 lead through new arrivals Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitarayan until the 22nd minute to flabbergast Hamburg.

However, Hamburg recovered from the setback and responded out of the blue four minutes later when Zhi-Gin Lam curled home into the far post corner.

Nonetheless, Dortmund had the upper hand but yet they had to swallow the leveller by Heiko Westermann, who headed home a free kick by Rafael van der Vaart, at the 49th minute.

Nevertheless, it was a short-lived joy by hapless Hamburg as Aubemeyang, Robert Lewandowski sealed their two-goal tally, and Marco Reus extended the lead to 6-2 to make the game safe at the 81st minute.

Leverkusen beat Wolfsburg 3-1 thanks to the brace by Stefan Kieling to hold the pace with Bayern and Dortmund.

The "Werkself" broke the deadlock with 24 minutes into the game through Sidney Sam. Simon Rolfes' through ball found Sam, who beat onrushing Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio into the bottom left.

The "Wolves" continued unfazed and rewarded themselves at the 39th minute when Ivica Olic volleyed home Ricardo Rodriguez's cross to restore parity. It looked like Wolfsburg could turn the tides but Leverkusen's Kieling destroyed all hopes of a comeback win, when he headed home a dead ball by Gonzalo Castro at the 65th minute. Wolfsburg situation worsened with the sent off of Luiz Gustavo. As a consequence, Kieling was able to make it 3-1 on the scoreboards in the dying minutes of the game.

Elsewhere, Schalke's new arrival Kevin Boateng opened his account with a match winning strike to inflict Mainz the second consecutive defeat. Frankfurt cruised to a 3-0 victory over ten men Bremen and Augsburg celebrated a 2-1 comeback win over Freiburg.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Sunday: Hoffenheim host Monchengladbach and newly promoted Braunschweig face Nuremberg.

Posted in: Miscellany

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