Bayern, Wolfsburg march on in German Bundesliga
Xinhua, February 15, 2015 Adjust font size:
Relentless Bayern Munich inflicted Hamburg a heavy 8-0 defeat meanwhile Wolfsburg reaped a hard earned 5-4 win against Leverkusen at the 21st round of Bundesliga on Saturday.
Bayern Munich cruised to a hammering 8-0 victory over Hamburg by courtesy of braces by Thomas Mueller, Mario Goetze and Arjen Robben. Hapless Hamburg conceded three first half goals and five second half goals unable to find a response.
Pep Guardiola' s men smoothed the way for the 16th win of the season with three goals within 15 minutes of the first half. Referee Michael Weiner awarded the hosts a handball penalty at the 21st minute, which was converted by Thomas Mueller who broke the deadlock. Bayern utilized their momentum two minutes later as Mario Goetze capitalized on a rebound to tap in a two-goal lead from very close range.
Hamburg were unable to put up some resistance meanwhile Arjen Robben tripled the lead with a well placed effort into the top left corner at the 36th minute. The Dutchman was not done with the scoring as he wrapped up his brace only two minutes after the restart to make it 4-0 on the scoreboards.
Bayern dominated the game in all departments especially after the break. They controlled the ball and scored another four goals through Thomas Mueller, Robert Lewandowski, Franck Ribery and Mario Goetze.
With the second win in row Bundesliga leaders Bayern maintain their eight-point lead while Hamburg remains on the 12th place.
Wolfsburg and Leverkusen staged a see saw match in which the "Wolves" gave away the lead twice. However, Wolfsburg' s striker Bas Dost, who scored four goals, was on target with a late goal to snatch decisive points in the title race. Meanwhile, Leverkusen suffered their second straight defeat.
Wolfsburg was on the road to victory within 29 minutes but three goals were not enough as resilient Leverkusen fought back twice. The "Wolves" caught a bright start on the road through Bas Dost who headed home a cross by Vierinha from nine meters to mark the opener at the 6th minute. Naldo doubled the lead for the visitors with a dead ball goal eleven minutes later before Dost scored his second of the afternoon to extend the lead.
After the break Wolfsburg retracted whereas Leverkusen slowly but surely piled on the pressure. As a consequence Leverkusen' s Heung Min Son donated two goals within five minutes to reduce the arrears to 3-2 at the 62nd minute.
After a short period of recovery Wolfsburg restored their two-goal lead when Bas Dost sewed up his hat rick moments later. However, Leverkusen kept it bowling and were able equalize the scores thanks to the goals by Son and Karim Bellarabi. The hosts had to complete the game with ten men as Emir Spahic saw his second yellow card of the game to weak his side.
It looked like both sides would share the spoils but it was again Bas Dost who had an ace in the hole when he scored the winner and his fourth goal in the dying seconds of the game.
Wolfsburg remains on the second place of the standings, eight points adrift of leaders Bayern, whilst Leverkusen stays on the 6th position.
Elsewhere, third placed Monchengladbach earned a narrow 1-0 lead over newly promoted Cologne at the 82nd Rhenish derby. "Gladbachs" Granit Xhaka scored the winner of the game when he headed home a free kick at the injury time.
Fourth positioned Schalke squandered the chance to jump on the third place as Frankfurt craved out a 1-0 win on home soil owing to the header by Lucas Piazon.
Bremen continued their winning run as they downed Augsburg 3-2 thanks to the goals by Assani Lukimya, Franco di Santo and Theodor Gebre Selassie and Sebastian Rudy' s late grasp 2-1 winner for Hoffenheim increases Stuttgart' s relegation worries.
The following games are scheduled for Sunday: Berlin host Freiburg and Hannover encounter Paderborn. Endi