Bayern extend lead, Schalke crave out late draw in Bundesliga

Bayern wrapped up a commanding 4-0 victory over Bremen thanks to Robert Lewandowski's brace meanwhile Joel Matip's late equalizer rescued Schalke one point at Berlin at the 24th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

Werder Bremen were able to hold the pace until the 24th minute before Bayern Munich broke the deadlock following a fast break. Thomas Mueller slotted home with a left footed follow up shot from 16 meters after Bremen's goalkeeper Raphael Wolf saved his first effort.

The Bavarians doubled the lead just before the break when David Alaba curled home a free kick from 17 meters at the edge of the box into the top right corner, marking Bayern's 100th goal of the season.

The second half offered a rough game with many fouls and cards.

Nevertheless, the brace by Robert Lewandowski sealed the deal in the closing period. The Polish international made use of Thomas Mueller's square pass to head home the third goal for Bayern at the 76th minute. Lewandowski was not done the scoring as he added another goal to their lead in the dying minutes of the game to round off the 4-0 win.

With the 20th victory at the 25th game of the season, Bayern Munich stretch their lead to 14 points atop the standings meanwhile Bremen slipped to the 9th position after suffering their 10th loss.

Schalke snatched a late two all draw on the road against Berlin as Joel Matip was on target in the injury time to shock the hosts.

Berlin marked the opener on home soil in the 21st minute when Aenis Ben-Hatira tapped in a rebound from very close range. Schalke responded five minutes before the break when youngster Leroy Sane lobbed the ball over Berlin's goalkeeper Thomas Kraft to restore parity.

Berlin grabbed the lead again in the 81st minute as Genki Haraguchi utilized a rebound to poke home the 2-1 lead. However, Berlin dropped vital points for the relegation battle as Joel Matip headed home the 2-2 equalizer at the 90th minute.

With the draw Schalke remains on the 5th place with 39 points while Berlin stays on the 14th position.

Hoffenheim overpowered ten-men Hamburg 3-0 by courtesy of Eugen Polanski's brace. The "HSV" ensured the worst possible start on the road as goalkeeper Jaroslav Dorbny saw a straight red card after only 20 minutes into the game following a professional foul inside the box.

Hoffenheim's Eugen Polanski stepped up and converted the penalty for the opener moments later. Decimated Hamburg was unable to pose any threat, yet Hoffenheim had to wait until 81st minute before Polanski reaped his brace to put the result beyond doubt. The second goal took the wind out of Hamburg's sails as Sebastian Rudy added another name to the score sheets six minutes later.

Hoffenheim sticks on the 7th place while Hamburg sits on the 15th position, just two points off the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt crushed newly promoted Paderborn 4-0 to return into the touching distance of the international business. Mainz upset Augsburg 2-0 thanks to the goals by Shinji Okazaki and Ja-Cheol Koo and Dortmund were held to a goalless draw by newly promoted Cologne.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Sunday: runner-up Wolfsburg encounter relegation threatened Freiburg and fourth placed Monchengladbach face Hannover. Endi