Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich extended two of their unbeaten league records with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg on Saturday, while third-placed Borussia Dortmund romped to a 5-1 win against Werder Bremen.
European champions Bayern remained 13 points clear in the Bundesliga as the runaway leaders upped their tally to 56 out of a possible 60 points this season.
The rare win at Nuremberg extended Bayern’s unbeaten streak to 45 Bundesliga matches — stretching to October 2012 — and 29 away league games.
Photo: AFP
“I quickly noticed why Bayern had only won once in six years at Nuremberg,” Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. “Nuremberg were aggressive and played very intensively, they had two or three clear chances.”
However, Bayern still enjoyed more than 60 percent possession — down from the average of 75 percent they are used to — while the loss dropped Nuremberg back into the bottom three.
“The first half cost us a lot of strength and the belief wasn’t as great,” Nuremberg coach Gertjan Verbee said. “It was almost impossible to come back after they went 2-0 up soon after the break.”
Bayern needed just 17 minutes to take the lead at Nuremberg’s Grundig Stadion when Germany star Mario Goetze put David Alaba in space down the flank and the Austria left-back flicked in a cross for Mario Mandzukic to volley home.
The Croatia striker turned provider when he set up captain Philipp Lahm to fire home on 49 minutes as Bayern counterattacked.
It should have been more when Arjen Robben hit the post 10 minutes later, but Bayern were in complete control.
Meanwhile, Dortmund dismantled Bremen with Poland striker Robert Lewandowski and attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan both scoring twice.
“That was what we want to see every week and, hopefully, we will see again,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said.
Dortmund made their pressing game count when defender Marcel Schmelzer pounced on a mistake on the left and slid his pass in for Lewandowski to hit the top right-hand corner with 26 minutes gone.
Dortmund doubled their lead at Bremen’s Weser Stadion when Armenia’s Mkhitaryan scored his first league goal since September last year as he blasted his shot into the left-hand corner four minutes from the break.
Veteran centerback Manuel Friedrich then volleyed home just after the interval to claim his first Bundesliga goal for two years.
Lukasz Piszczek’s shot clipped the crossbar on 56 minutes, but Dortmund grabbed their fourth when Mkhitaryan curled in his second after Marco Reus’ superb back-heel pass on 62 minutes, before Lewandowski added a late fifth.
Bremen midfielder Levent Aycicek scored a late consolation goal on his Bundesliga debut, but there was precious little else for Bremen fans to enjoy.
This was the 12th time this season that Bremen have conceded three or more goals, putting manager Robin Dutt under increasing pressure, with his side 13th and just three points from the relegation places.
Hamburg SV coach Bert van Marwijk is under increasing pressure as well, after his side also stumbled on Saturday, slumping to their sixth straight defeat with a 3-0 loss at the hands of Hertha BSC.
Colombia striker Adrian Ramos, who has been linked to Real Madrid and Dortmund for next season, scored twice to leave Hamburg second from bottom as they were booed by their fans after the final whistle.
In the basement battle, Eintracht Frankfurt moved up to 12th with a 3-0 win at home to bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig, while SC Freiburg were held to a 1-1 draw at home by TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and sixth-placed VfL Wolfsburg blanked FSV Mainz 05 3-0.
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