Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich romped to a 5-0 win at home to Hanover yesterday to extend their lead at the top to nine points as champions Borussia Dortmund moved up to second with a win at Mainz.
Having secured their place in the knock-out phase of the Champions League in midweek, Bayern ran riot at the Allianz Arena and added a point to their lead.
Bayern set another Bundesliga record of 34 points after the first 13 games and the hosts took the lead with only four minutes gone when Javi Martinez netted his first goal since his August transfer from Athletic Bilbao.
Toni Kroos, who was superb throughout, then doubled the lead and the third came on 37 minutes when Franck Ribery fired home. Centre-back Dante made it 4-0 when he met Kroos’s free-kick at the far post on 63 minutes.
Mario Gomez needed less than 30 seconds to claim the fifth having come off the bench after he made his first appearance for Bayern at Valencia after three months out after ankle surgery on 67 minutes.
Dortmund came from behind at Mainz to claim their third straight away win.
They fell behind on four minutes when Marco Caligiuri put the hosts ahead, but Marco Reus equalised when he hit the top corner from 17 metres out just eight minutes later.
Dortmund took the lead just before the break when Mario Goetze put Robert Lewandowski into space to flick the ball over the Mainz goalkeeper to claim the three points and claim second from neighbours Schalke.
The Royal Blues dropped to third after drawing 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished fourth, in Gelsenkirchen.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who has been linked to a move to Arsenal in the winter break, opened the scoring on 11 minutes, but the lead lasted just 105 seconds as Stefan Aigner headed them level.
Frankfurt were reduced to 10 men when Karim Matmour was dismissed for a second yellow card on 87 minutes.
Results
B. Munich vs Hanover - 5-0
G. Furth vs Nuremberg - 0-0
Mainz vs B. Dortmund - 1-2
Schalke vs E. Frankfurt - 1-1
Wolfsburg vs W. Bremen - 1-1
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Munich | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 5 | 34 |
| B. Dortmund | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 14 | 25 |
| Schalke 04 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 15 | 24 |
| E.Frankfurt | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 19 | 24 |
| B. Leverkusen | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 17 | 21 |
| Werder Bremen | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 18 |
| Hanover 96 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 25 | 17 |
| Mainz 05 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
| Hamburg | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 17 |
| Freiburg | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 16 |
| B.M’gladbach | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 23 | 16 |
| Stuttgart | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 16 |
| Wolfsburg | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 15 |
| F. Duesseldorf | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 14 |
| Nuremberg | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 13 |
| Hoffenheim | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 26 | 12 |
| G. Fuerth | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 8 |
| Augsburg | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 6 |
Playing today:
Freiburg vs Stuttgart - 15.30
Augsburg vs B. M’gladbach - 17.30
Hoffenheim vs B. Leverkusen - 17.30