Bayern down Schalke 3-1, Wolfsburg crush Bremen 6-0

Front-runners Bayern Munich edged Schalke 3-1 to extend the lead atop the standings whilst third-placed Wolfsburg clean swept Bremen 6-0 at the 13th round of German Bundesliga on Saturday.

   Schalke were able to hold the pace with Bayern until the break. Things changed after the interval as Bayern picked up the pace to secure the win thanks to Javi Martinez and Thomas Mueller.

   The "Bavarians" caught a bright start at Schalke as David Alaba opened the scoring with a deflected shot into the top right corner at the 9th minute. The "Royal Blues" remained unimpressed and restored parity though Max Mayer, who made use of Leroy Sane's build-up play to beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into the bottom right corner with 17 minutes into the encounter.

   Schalke gained momentum with the equalizer giving uninspired Bayern a hard time to work out promising opportunities. Nevertheless, after the restart Schalke remained passive and kept all their players behind the ball. As a consequence, Bayern took the rein to grab the lead for the second time as Arjen Robben's cross into the box found Martinez in the 69th minute.

   Schalke were shocked whilst Bayern kept it bowling to add another goal to their lead after Mueller's low shot into the far post corner beat Schalke keeper Ralf Faehrmann for the final score.

   Bayern's 12th win at the 13th game increase their advantage to eight points atop the table while Schalke slip from the 5th to the 7th place.

   Wolfsburg showed no mercy and crushed Werder Bremen 6-0 to defend the third place in the standings.

   The "Wolves" took over from the beginning and pressed the visitors into defense. It took only 12 minutes before Wolfsburg grabbed the lead as Bremen defender Alejandro Galvez cleared Christian Traesch's cross into his own goal.

   The hosts continued their relentless run on Bremen's goal yet they had to wait until the 44th minute before Max Kruse headed home for the 2-0 lead following Vieirinha's free kick cross into the box.

   After the restart, the hosts started where they left off as Vieirinha got his name on the scoreboards after volleying home Marcel Schaefer's cross to the far post in the 56th minute.

   Bremen were unable to put up some resistance meanwhile Wolfsburg still weren't done with the scoring. Substitutes Joshua Guilavogui and Bas Dost made it 5-0 before Kruse wrapped up his brace to round off the 6-0 win on home soil.

   With the seventh win of the season, Wolfsburg bolster up the third place whereas Bremen suffered their eighth loss to remain on the 14th place. 

   Monchengladbach reaped the seventh win of the season as Raffael's winner moved the "Foals" 2-1 past resilient Hannover.

   Hannover caught the hosts almost flatfooted as Monchengladbach's Tony Jantschke had to clear Artur Sobiech's effort off the goal line to avoid a deficit with five minutes into the game. 

   As the match progressed, Monchengladbach gained a foothold into the game to break the deadlock in the 35th minute through Ibrahima Traore, who beat Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler from sharp angle.

   However, the visitors grabbed the reins after the break to level the scores. Monchengladbach failed to clear the ball following a corner allowing Sobiech to poke home from very close range at the 61st minute.

   Monchengladbach remained unfazed and snatched the victory in the dying minutes of the game as Raffael turned in Andreas Christensen cross from six meters to seal the deal.

   With the result, Monchengladbach jump from the 6th to the 4th place for the moment while Hannover record the eighth loss to stay on the 15th place.

   Elsewhere, after two straight defeats Leverkusen return to winning ways as Javier Hernandez's brace secured the "Werkself" a 3-1 victory at Frankfurt.

   Last placed Augsburg upset relegation threatened Stuttgart 4-0 following a one-sided affair. Mainz and Cologne shared the spoils after a goalless match.

   The following fixtures conclude the 13th round in Bundesliga on Sunday: Berlin encounter Hoffenheim and Ingolstadt clash with Darmstadt.  Endi