Berlin, Feb 9 (IANS) Front runners Bayern Munich, maintaining their winning ways, clinched a Bavarian derby while Dortmund sealed their second straight victory with a goal festival over Bremen in Bundesliga.
Bayern, with a 2-0 win, extended their unbeaten record to 45 games as resilient Nuremberg failed to get more out of their bright start Saturday, reports Xinhua.
The hosts caught a lively start when Daniel Ginczek tested Bayern custodian Manuel Neuer before Hiroshi Kiyotake’s sideways scissors kick rattled the bar. The German giants seemed impressed as Josip Drmic nearly broke the deadlock but it was again Neuer who denied the opener.
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However, instead of celebrating an opener against the league leaders, Nuremberg were punished as Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring against the run of the game at the 18th minute. The Croatian international made use of David Alaba’s cross to volley home from seven metres into the top left corner.
Bayern established their rhythm as Arjen Robben and Thomas Mueller rattled the woodwork as everything pointed to another goal for the visitors. Nuremberg hoped to grab at least one point but all their hopes were destroyed by Philipp Lahm, who exploited Mandzukic’s assist to score his first goal since December 2010.
Consequently, Bayern restored their 13-point lead atop the standings with 56 points while Nuremberg slumped into the relegation battle with 16th position and only 17 points.
Dortmund routed Bremen 5-1 to wrap up their second straight win, keeping the pressure on second place Leverkusen. The hosts from Bremen caught a better start but Franco di Santo failed to ensure a perfect start from close range. Bremen staged a well-positioned defence but lacked in creativity as Dortmund failed to find a gap inside Bremen’s bulwark.
However, things changed in the 26th minute as Marcel Schmelzer forced a turnover to set up for Robert Lewandowski, who slotted home into the far post. Dortmund added another goal to their lead with just four minutes remaining in the first half as Henrikh Mkhitaryan dribbled his way through Bremen’s defence to double from inside the box.
Juergen Klopp’s men started where they left off as Manuel Friedrich headed it 3-0 on the scoreboards following his first goal for the BVB with just three minutes into the second half. To make things worse for Bremen, Mkhitaryan curled a back heel pass by Marco Reus from sharp angle past Bremen keeper Raphael Wolf to seal his brace in the 62nd minute.
The BVB were not done as Lewandowski reaped his second goal when he danced through the defence to poke home five minutes before final whistle. Levent Aycicek scored Bremen’s consolation to reduce the arrears to 5-1 with one minute remaining.
Dortmund stay third with 39 points whilst Bremen drop to 13th position with 20 points.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg earned their 10th win of the season, overcoming Mainz with three second-half goals.
Berlin increased Hamburg’s precarious situation as Sami Allagui and Adrian Ramos inflicted the “Rothosen” a 2-0 loss.
Frankfurt cruised to a 3-0 win over bottom side Braunschweig thanks to three first-half goals and Freiburg and Hoffenheim share the spoils following a 1-1 draw.
