Bundesliga Matchday 14 Roundup: Top three slide to easy victories

Bayern Munich, Leverkusen and Dortmund all registered wins in this weekend's Bundesliga play.  While Bayern's win was never in doubt with early goals by Arjen Robben (2nd and 30th minute), Braunschweig kept them at bay in the second half.  Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Ribery and Boateng were off the roster and Mueller was replaced by Mandzukic early in the second half. Bayern extended its unbeaten streak to 39. After Bayern's win in Moscow midweek, their eyes were clearly focused on the midweek DFB Cup encounter against FC Augsburg.  Bayern continues to lead the league with four points.

Leverkusen, after its rousting by Manchester United, found their form and handily defeated Nuernberg 3-0.  Son (36th and 76th) and Kiessling (47th) got the counters.   Third placed Borussia Dortmund struggled for some time with the Mainz 05 side.  Aubemayang finally got the opener for the Borussien in the 70th minute, while Choupo-Moting equalized for the hosts in the 74th. Robert Lewanwowki got the go ahead goal in the 78th minute on a penalty, which also send off Soto for a handball.  Lewandowski got his 11th of the season for the insurance goal four minutes into injury time.

Wolfsburg captured a po3int by avoiding a late onslaught from their northern rival Hamburg. In the final 1-1 tally, the scorers were Calhanoglu in the 19th and Rodriguez for Wolfsburg in the 31st.  Wolfsburg holds sixth spot.  Hoffenheim gave up an early two goal lead in the first 45, on goals by Salihovic in the 12th and 18th minute, both on penalty kicks.  Aron Hunt closed the gap at the 45 on a penalty, while Elia got the equalizer for Bremen just before the halfway mark.  Volland and Herdling moved Hoffenheim ahead 4-2 in the 49th and 53rd, before Petersen closed the gap in the 59th.  Bargfreide converted for Bremen in the 90th for the final 4-4 tie.  While the match was a thriller for the fans, the two coaches had to keep checking their blood pressure.

Hertha BSC and FC Augsburg fought to a scoreless draw. The draw moved Berlin out of the top six European spots, while Augsburg moved up into tenth spot.  In the Saturday evening match, Schalke walked over Stuttgart with a much needed 3-0 win.  Farfan scored in the 34th and 47th minute and Jones tripled the score in the 79th.  While Schalke has been inconsistent this season, the win moved the Knappen into the sixth Euro spot,  while Stuttgart continues to struggle in 11th spot.

With one goal on either side of the half, Hanover defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0.  Diouf scored in the 25th minute and Huszti made it two in the 67th minute.  The win moves Hanover into 9th spot, while Frankfurt, despite Euro League success, continues to struggle with 11 points just above the relegation zone.

In the Sunday evening match Borussia Moenchengladbach, kept SC Freiburg at bay on Raffael's goal  in the 62nd minute.  While Freiburg pressed hard during phases of the game, the side seldom became a problem for the Gladbach defence.  Gladbach solidified its place in the top four, four points ahead of Schalke and just three behind Borussia Dortmund.  Freiburg remains in 16th place with 11 points in 14 games, with a record of two wins, five draws and seven losses. 

29 November

VfL Wolfsburg vs Hamburger SV   1-1

 30 November

Bayern München vs Eintr. Braunschweig   2-0    
Bayer Leverkusen vs 1. FC Nürnberg      3-0 
1899 Hoffenheim vs Werder Bremen    4-4
FSV Mainz 05 vs Borussia Dortmund   1-3    
Hertha BSC vs FC Augsburg       0-0
Schalke 04 vs VfB Stuttgart   3-0

1 December
   
Hannover 96 vs Eintracht Frankfurt    2-0   
Bor. Mönchengladbach vs SC Freiburg  1-0

Position------Team-------------------GP--W---D-----L-----GF/A-----Pts

1--------FC Bayern Muenchen-------14---12----2-----0------32-7-------38
2--------Bayer Leverkusen------------14---11----1-----2-----31:14------34
3--------Borussia Dortmund----------14---10----1-----3------36:14------31
4--------Borussia M'gladbach---------14----9----1-----4-----31:16------28
5--------FC Schalke 04----------------14----6----3-----5-----28:27-------24
6--------VFL Wolfsburg---------------14----7----2-----5-----20:16-------23
7------- Hertha BSC Berlin-----------14----5----4-----5-----20:17-------19
8--------Mainz 05----------------------14----6----1-----7-----21:29-------19
9------Hannover 96-------------------14----5----2-----7-----17:22--------17
10------ FCAugsburg-------------------14----5----2-----7----15:23--------17
11------Hamburg------------------------14----4----4-----6-----30:31-------16
12------VFB Stuttgart------------------14----4----4-----6-----24:26-------16
13------Werder Bremen----------------14----4----4-----6----19:27--------16
14------1899 Hoffenheim--------------14----3----5-----6-----32:34-------14
15------Eintracht Frankfurt------------14----2----5-----7-----17:26--------11
16------SC Freiburg--------------------14----2----5-----7-----14:27---------11
17------1. FC Nürnberg----------------14----0----8-----5-----16:29----------8
18------Eintracht Braunschweig------14----2----2----10------8:24----------8