Bayern win, Cologne upset Dortmund in German Bundesliga

Bayern extended their lead atop the standings thanks to Thomas Mueller's 1-0 winner against Hannover while Cologne came from behind to shock runners-up Dortmund 2-1 at the 17th round of the German Bundesliga on Saturday.

Josep Guardiola's men recorded the 15th victory in their 17th Bundesliga game as Mueller converted a handball penalty to edge Hannover 1-0 on the road.

The Bundesliga leaders took the reins from the kick-off hence Thiago Alcantara had the first chance to open the scoring with just five minutes into the game. Yet, the Spaniard failed to overcome Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler from very close range.

Hannover created their first chance three minutes later but Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer tipped Leon Andreasen's header over the bar to deny the opener.

However, Bayern remained in control of the match but neither Robert Lewandowski nor Mueller were able to break the deadlock from promising positions at the half-hour mark.

The "Bavarians" were finally able to mark the opener due to Christian Schulz' intentional hand ball, which allowed Mueller to mark his 14th goal of the season from the penalty spot, with five minutes remaining in the first half.

After the restart, Bayern retracted with the 1-0 lead behind meanwhile harmless Hannover lacked in ideas to threat the German giants' defence. With the result, the "FCB" increase their advantage atop the standings to eight points. Hannover suffered their third loss in row and overwinter on the 16th place, a relegation play-off spot.

Runners-up Dortmund suffered a setback in the pursuit of Bayern Munich as Thomas Tuchel's men gave away their lead to lose 2-1 to resilient Cologne within seven minutes of the closing period.

The "BVB" controlled the proceedings on the pitch, after all they had to wait until the 18th minute before Sokratis headed home a corner kick by Henrikh Mkhitaryan to make it 1-0 on the scoreboards. It was only Dortmund in the first half but the visitors remained sloppy at the finish allowing the hosts to turn the tides in the second half.

Cologne pressed frenetically for the equalizer and capitalized on a misplaced pass by Dortmund custodian Roman Buerki, who was unable to defuse Simon Zoller's left footed effort in the 83rd minute. Things went from bad to worse for Dortmund as Cologne's substitute Anthony Modeste secured the 2-1 victory seven minutes later.

The "BVB" suffered the third loss of the season to sit eight points adrift of front-runners Bayern Munich. The sixth win of the campaign lifted Cologne from the 10th to the 9th place.

Last-placed Stuttgart eased their relegation worries after bouncing back from a 1-0 deficit to wrap a 3-1 victory over fourth placed Wolfsburg.

The "Wolves" grabbed a bright start into the match as Maximilian Arnold made use of Daniel Caligiuri's assist to open the scoring with 14 minutes on the game clock. Stuttgart responded immediately as Daniel Didavi's powerful shot found the top left corner to level the scores eight minutes later, before Filip Kostic slotted home Timo Werner's square pass to turn the tides in the 31st minute.

Stuttgart weren't done with the scoring as Didavi sealed his brace after the restart to put the game beyond doubt in the 47th minute. Nevertheless, the "Swabians" had to complete the game with 10 men as Toni Sunjic was sent off after seeing his second yellow card.

With the surprising loss Wolfsburg slump to the 6th place whilst Stuttgart jumped from the last place to safety.

Elsewhere, Leverkusen reaped their second straight victory with a 1-0 win over newly promoted Ingolstadt. Mexican international Javier Hernandez scored the only goal of the match in the 73rd minute.

Augsburg secured their third consecutive win as they overcame Hamburg 1-0 thanks to Jan Moravek's header in the 76th minute whereas Bremen wait for their first win since five Bundesliga games as Frankfurt snatched a 2-1 comeback win on home soil.

The following fixtures conclude the first half of the Bundesliga campaign on Sunday: third-placed Berlin host Mainz and Monchengladbach encounter newly promoted Darmstadt. Endi