Top four teams victorious in German Bundesliga

Bayern Munich returned to winning ways as they downed Dortmund 1-0 thanks to Robert Lewandowski's winner while Wolfsburg held the pace with a 3-1 victory over Stuttgart at the 27th round of the German Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bundesliga front-runners Bayern Munich recovered from their last weeks 2-0 loss to Monchengladbach as Pep Guardiola's men recorded their 21st win with a neat 1-0 triumph over Dortmund. Juergen Klopp's lacked in penetration and suffered their 12th loss of the season.

Both teams staged an uninspired first period with many fouls hence goal scoring opportunities remained a rare occurrence. Yet, the "Bavarians" were able to break the deadlock with 36 minutes into the game when former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski headed home Thomas Mueller's rebound to make it 1-0 on the scoreboards.

After the restart the "BVB" piled on the pressure but Marco Reus were unable to level the scores from promising positions twice. Bayern's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer denied Dortmund's golden chance in the closing period when he scratched a well-placed free kick by Marco Reus from the goal line to deny Dortmund the equalizer in the closing period.

With the victory Bayern establish a 10-point gap to runner-up Wolfsburg whereas Dortmund stay on the 10th place.

Second placed Wolfsburg overpowered bottom side Stuttgart 3-1 owing to Ricardo Rodriguez' double strike.

Both sides staged an evenly balanced first half but the "Wolves" got a foul play penalty awarded before the break, as Florian Klein fouled Daniel Caligiuri inside the box. Rodriguez stepped up to send goalkeeper Sven Ulreich into the wrong corner for the opener.

Nevertheless, Stuttgart remained unimpressed and responded moments later when Martin Harnik headed home Filip Kostic's cross at the far post.

Wolfsburg grabbed the lead for the second time when Rodriguez slotted home a long free kick cross which crossed the goal line untouched at the 65th minute. The hosts were not done with the scoring as Andre Schuerrle scored his first goal in the Wolfsburg dress to ensure the victory.

The "Wolves" cemented their second place in the table, sitting 10 points adrift of front-runners Bayern Munich while Stuttgart remain on the last place with 23 points from 27 rounds.

Third placed Monchengladbach set course for an UEFA Champions League spot for next season, as they came from behind to upset Hoffenheim 4-1 on the road thanks to Patrick Herrmann's brace.

However, Hoffenheim grabbed the better start as Sven Schipplock finished a fast break via Kevin Volland and Roberto Firmino to open the scoring with 17 minutes into the game.

Monchengladbach levelled the scores with assistance of Hoffenheim's David Abraham, who brought down Fabian Johnson inside the box, allowing Max Kruse to slot home from the spot nine minutes later.

The visitors continued with their offensively minded performance to turn the tides by courtesy of Patrick Herrmann, who touched Oscar Wendt's square pass to beat Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann into the far post corner at the 31st minute.

After the restart Hoffenheim tried to turn things around but the "Foals" killed the game with six minutes into the second half when Herrmann wrapped up his brace following a counter attack.

With the 14th win of the season Monchengladbach tighten their third place in the standings while Hoffenheim remain on the 7th place.

Fourth placed Leverkusen crushed struggling Hamburg 4-0 at the debut of care-taker Peter Knaebel. Relentless Leverkusen showed no mercy with Hamburg to score four goals within 63 minutes in a one-sided affair.

The visitors from the North ensured the worst possible start as Leverkusen capitalized on a misplaced pass by Johan Djouro, which allowed Karim Bellarabi to run down on Rene Adler's goal. As soon as Bellarabi crossed the penalty line he square-passed to Gonzalo Castro, who slotted home into the empty goal with just seven minutes into the game.

The "Werkself" dominated the game but had to wait just before the break to double the lead through Stefan Kiessling's header. Leverkusen's striker was again on target when he made 3-0 on the scoreboards by sealing his brace at the 52nd minute.

Leverkusen put the game beyond doubt at the 63rd minute as Castro wrapped up his brace as well to inflict Hamburg the 14th loss of the season.

With the result fourth placed Leverkusen remain in touching distance third placed Monchengladbach, and a direct Champions League spot, whereas Hamburg remain on 16th place, a relegation playoff spot.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt squandered a two-goal lead to share the spoils with Hannover following a two-all draw. Bremen and Mainz shared the points as well after a goalless draw and Freiburg secured a 1-0 win over Cologne by courtesy of Mike Frantz' header.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Sunday: Augsburg host Schalke and Berlin encounter relegation threated and newly promoted Paderborn. Endi