Borussia Dortmund go four points clear in Bundesliga title race
Borussia Dortmund took their winning run to seven matches with a 3-1 victory over Hannover that extended their lead to four points at the top of the Bundesliga. Rober Lewandowski scored twice with Ivan Perisic completing the scoring in injury time in a victory that also equalled the club record for consecutive top-flight wins.
Dortmund began with confidence and took the lead in the 27th minute when Piszczek put Lewandowski through to fire into the far corner. The goal scorer almost added a second when he struck the post soon after before Blaszczykowski was denied when clean through on the goalkeeper. Dortmund were value for far more than their one goal half-time lead and within 10 minutes of the restart Lewandowski had stretched their lead to two. A stunning 25-yard strike from Ya Konan brought Hannover back into the game six minutes later before Perisic finally sealed the victory with a clever lob over the onrushing keeper.
Bayern Munich recovered from their midweek Champions League setback against Basle by defeating Schalke 2-0, courtesy of two goals by Franck Ribery. The win puts Bayern back into second place in the table. Bayern set out aggressively and former German international keeper Timo Hildebrand was forced to make early saves to deny Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben. He thwarted the Dutch winger a second time with Muller unable to convert the rebound. However, it was only a matter of time before the pressure told and Ribery ran on to a through ball by Luiz Gustavo to beat Hildebrand. Such was the relief at breaking the deadlock that Ribery was shown the yellow card for his over-exuberant goal celebrations.
It was a similar story in the second half as Holger Badstuber headed against the crossbar amid a flurry of missed chances. Ribery was again the man to spare the home teams blushes when he exchanged passes with Muller before firing a deflected shot past Hildebrand to secure the points. The Bavarians were denied a third goal when Ivica Olic headed a goal bound effort from Muller across the line from an offside position in the 73rd minute. By then the points were in safe-keeping and Schalke could not muster any meaningful reply. Schalke now trail Bayern by four points in the Bundesliga and they in turn are four points adrift of the leaders, Dortmund. Bayern have a tricky away fixture at fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen next week whereas Dortmund will be fully expected to take maximum points from their home game against Mainz.
