Sizzling Bayern go top
Bayern Munich eased past Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 on Saturday for a sixth straight league win that kept them two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
First-half goals from Thomas Mueller and Daniel van Buyten and a stoppage-time goal from Dutchman Arjen Robben, in his first appearance since late August, saw them move up to 18 points from seven matches.
With millions of people in town for the annual Oktoberfest beer festival, Bayern had their own reasons to celebrate on Saturday, having kept a clean sheet for nine consecutive games in all competitions.
“We were dominant throughout and scored at the right times,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
Early season form side Borussia Moenchengladbach kept up with Bayern's pace, moving into second place with a 1-0 win over Nuremberg courtesy of a Filip Daems penalty while Borussia Dortmund snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win at Mainz 05.
Expert penalty-taker Daems converted from the spot for his third goal of the season in the 76th minute to lift Gladbach, who had to come through a relegation playoff last season to stay up, to 16 points.
Werder Bremen, third on 13 points, host Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
Last season's champions Dortmund needed a 90th minute goal from Lukasz Piszczek to beat battling Mainz and snap their two-game losing streak to move up to eighth.
Piszczek, whose poor back pass was to blame for Mainz's 33rd minute lead through Nicolai Mueller, made amends when he rifled in from outside the box seconds before the final whistle.
Dortmund, who had playmaker Mario Gotze returning from suspension and welcomed back striker Lucas Barrios from injury for the first time this season, had levelled in the 64th minute with Ivan Perisic's first Bundesliga goal, a clever low drive.
Schalke 04 overcame Freiburg 4-2 to fulfil their promise of putting in a stellar performance for coach Ralf Rangnick who surprisingly stepped down on Thursday citing exhaustion.
VfL Wolfsburg beat Kaiserslautern 1-0 despite having 10 men for the entire second half following the dismissal of defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos with Ashkan Dejagah's diving header just past the hour mark securing the points for Felix Magath's team.
RESULTS
Bayern Munich 3 (Mueller 5, Van Buyten 19, Robben 90)
Bayer Leverkusen 0
Schalke 04 4 (Farfan 33, Huntelaar 62, Holtby 67, Raul 75) SC Freiburg 2 (P. Cisse 3, Jendrisek 83)
FC Augsburg 0 Hanover 0
M'gladbach 1 (Daems 76-pen) Nuremberg 0
Mainz 05 1 (Müller 33) Dortmund 2 (Perisic 64, Pizczek 90)
VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Dejagah 63) Kaiserslautern 0
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