BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach claimed a point in yesterday’s 1-1 draw to both move up the Bundesliga table to third and fourth respectively behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich.
Hosts Leverkusen opened the scoring at the BayArena when Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu curled his superb shot over Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer with 18 minutes gone.
But visitors Gladbach drew level when Dutch defender Roel Brouwers scored his first goal of the season after he poked home his shot from a corner just before the half-time break.
With second-placed Wolfsburg hosting mid-table Paderborn later Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern went 10 points clear at the top after Saturday’s 4-0 win at Augsburg, who dropped from third to fifth over the weekend.
Bayern underlined their status as Bundesliga champions-in-waiting as Arjen Robben scored twice as Munich scored four second-half goals without reply with Medhi Benatia and Robert Lewandowski also on target.
Bayern can further hammer home their superiority later this week when they host Freiburg on Tuesday before travelling to face Mainz on Friday in their last league match of 2014.
“Bayern Munich are in a different league, I think we can all agree on that,” said Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl after his side’s thrashing kept Munich on course to claim a third consecutive league title.
Despite qualifying for the Champions League’s last 16, Borussia Dortmund dropped back into the relegation places after slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin.
Dortmund’s ninth defeat in 15 league games -- the most in Germany’s top flight -- saw them drop to 16th from 14th having started December at the bottom.
To rub salt into the wounds, Julian Schieber scored the first-half winner against his old club while Dortmund’s attacking midfielder Heinrikh Mkhitaryan has been ruled out for six weeks with a torn thigh.
Only Hanover 96’s 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen prevented Dortmund dropping to second from bottom as Spanish striker Joselu scored twice for Hanover to claim four goals in his last three league games.
Having scraped into the Champions League’s last 16 with a 1-0 win at Slovenia’s Maribor on Wednesday, Schalke 04 slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Cologne.
Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah scored his fourth goal in five league games just after the break before midfielder Matthias Lehmann netted a penalty.
Teenage replacement Leroy Sane scored his first goal for Schalke by way of consolation on only the 18-year-old’s fourth league appearance as Schalke dropped to sixth.
Hamburg were held to a goalless draw at Freiburg with both teams just above the bottom three. AFP
