Die Klassiker was the match on everyoneโs mind even if Saturdayโs matchup between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund wasnโt for much outside of Bundesliga bragging rights.
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And after paying it plenty of lip service, Bayern backed it up. The big game went the way of the league leaders.
Borussia Dortmund 0-1ย Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski scored in the 36th minute as Bayern kept its 10-point table lead in tact with a 1-0ย win at theย Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
Marco Reus had a prime chance to level in the 61st minute, but lashed an off-balance shot wide of the left post. And Mats Hummels, who played down the match at midweek, missed a prime late chance to the left of the 18.
Reusโ 88th minute free kick was saved with powerย by Manuel Neuer, and that was the last true threat for BVB, which could be nine points out of fifth place come Sunday night.
Hoffenheim 1-4 Borussia Monchengladbach
The bevy of American writers who are critical with Jurgen Klinsmann for playing Fabian Johnson at left mid havenโt been watching Monchengladbachโs man thrive there in the Bundesliga.
Johnson played a tidy game on the left against his former team, passing and moving well as his side kept pace with winning Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen to stay third in Germanyโs top flight, seven points back of the former and two ahead of the latter.
Patrick Hermann scored a pair of goals in the win, while Max Kruse and Raffael helped Monchen off to a 3-1 halftime lead.
Wolfsburg 3-1 Stuttgart
Ricardo Rodriguezโs fifth and sixth goals of the season led Wolfsburg to an easy-enough win over Stuttgart, and Andre Schurrle added an insurance tally late.
Elsewhere
Werder Bremen 0-0 Mainz โ 41,000 people saw 7 total shots on goal.
Freiburg 1-0 Koln โ Mike Frantz nets winner in 37th minute.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Hamburg โ Braces for Gonzalo Castro, Stefan Kiessling.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Hannover โ Chandler goes 90 as hosts blow 2-0 lead.
Augsburg vs. Schalke โย 930 a.m. ET Sunday.
Hertha Berlin vs. Paderborn โย 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday.
Standings |
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Bayern Munich | 27 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 71 | 13 | 58 | 11-1-1 | 10-3-1 | 67 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 30 | 30 | 12-2-0 | 5-4-4 | 57 |
| Mรถnchen | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 41 | 21 | 20 | 9-3-1 | 5-5-4 | 50 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 49 | 29 | 20 | 7-6-1 | 6-3-4 | 48 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 31 | 6 | 8-4-2 | 3-2-7 | 39 |
| FC Augsburg | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 34 | -1 | 8-2-3 | 4-0-9 | 38 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 8-2-4 | 2-5-6 | 37 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 7-4-3 | 2-4-7 | 35 |
| Werder Bremen | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 6-4-4 | 3-4-6 | 35 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 27 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 5-3-5 | 4-3-7 | 33 |
| FSV Mainz 05 | 27 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 35 | 36 | -1 | 4-6-3 | 2-7-5 | 31 |
| 1. FC Kรถln | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 2-7-4 | 5-2-7 | 30 |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 5-2-6 | 3-3-7 | 29 |
| SC Freiburg | 27 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 27 | 36 | -9 | 4-6-4 | 2-4-7 | 28 |
| Hannover 96 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 5-2-6 | 2-5-7 | 28 |
| Hamburger SV | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 41 | -25 | 4-4-5 | 2-3-9 | 25 |
| SC Paderborn | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 23 | 50 | -27 | 3-5-5 | 2-4-7 | 24 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 49 | -21 | 2-3-8 | 3-5-6 | 23 |
