Dortmund win, Wolfsburg, Schalke tie in German Bundesliga

Dortmund cruised 4-1 past Stuttgart as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored twice and Leverkusen held Schalke to a 1-1 draw whilst Wolfsburg shared the spoils at Augsburg to close the 14th round in the German Bundesliga on Sunday.

   After two straight defeats, Thomas Tuchel's men returned to winning ways to increase Stuttgart's relegation worries with the third loss in a row.

   The runner-up ensured a quick start on home soil in front of 81,359 spectators as Gonzalo Castro headed home a rebound from close range after Stuttgart custodian Przemyslaw Tyton saved Henrikh Mkhitaryan's effort with three minutes into the encounter.

   It was the worst possible start for the visitors, who suffered another strike in the 19th minute as Castro's back heel pass found Bundesliga top scorer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who chipped the ball over Tyton to double the lead with his 16th goal of the season.

   Stuttgart recovered five minutes before the break after Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek scratched the solo effort by Timo Werner off the goal line. The "Swabians" stayed on the ball and reduced the arrears seconds later as Daniel Didavi poked home Filip Kostic's square pass at the far post.

   Dortmund continued with their powerful attacks, but they either squandered promising opportunities or were flagged offside. However, Dortmund were nonetheless able to make it 3-1 on the scoreboards thanks to the assistance of Stuttgart defender Georg Niedermeier, who cleared Marco Reus' low cross into the wrong goal at the 65th minute.

   The "BVB" weren't done with the scoring as Aubameyang wrapped up his brace to extend his goal tally to 17 in the dying minutes of the game.

   With the result, Dortmund cement the second place in the standings, with an eight-point deficit to front-runners Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Stuttgart slipped into the drop zone after suffering the 10th loss of the season.

   Elsewhere, Leverkusen extended Schalke's winless run to five games, as Sascha Riether's own goal cancelled out Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting's opener to secure the "Werkself" one point in the dying minutes of the game. Thus, Schalke slipped to the eighth place while Leverkusen remain on the 6th place.

   Third-placed Wolfsburg suffered a setback in the hunt for second-placed Dortmund as the "Wolves" were held to a goalless draw at bottom side Augsburg. Dieter Hecking's men stay on the third place but they sit now seven points adrift of the "BVB" whereas Augsburg climbed on a relegation play-off spot.  Endi