BERLIN: Bayern Munich moved a step closer to the Bundesliga title on Saturday as they beat Augsburg 2-0 and extended their lead over two-time reigning champions Borussia Dortmund to 14 points.
Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez scored in Bayern's victory while 10-man Dortmund lost 3-2 at home against Wolfsburg. Munich jumped onto 41 points while Dortmund remained on 27 points one game day before the winter break.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen have 30 points and will play at Hanover 96 on Sunday.
Bayern dominated the proceedings in Augsburg and finally grabbed the lead in the 40th minute from the spot through Mueller after Augsburg's Gibril Sankoh handled Toni Kroos' pass.
Mario Gomez doubled the advantage in the 62nd minute, just two minutes after coming on, to decide the contest.
"Three points, so it was a nice Saturday," said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.
"In order to win the championship, we have to win these kinds of game, and we did that," said Gomez.
In Dortmund, Juergen Klopp's hosts went ahead on a free kick by Marco Reus in the sixth minute.
Wolfsburg equalised in the 36th minute from the spot through Diego one minute after Marcel Schmelzer was red-carded for stopping Bas Dost's shot on the line with his hand - though replays showed the defender blocked the ball with his knee.
Wolfsburg took a 2-1 lead in the 41st minute as Naldo volleyed home Diego's free kick pass.
Jakub Blaszczykowski converted a penalty in the 61st minute as Dortmund pulled even at 2-2 but Dost re-established Wolfsburg's lead in the 73rd minute.
"I am satisfied with our performance - but the result hurts us a lot," said Klopp.
"It decided the game that we had to play the final 54 minutes a man down. Still, we had more ball possession and still felt we could win. But it was difficult to maintain the high energy level."
Fourth-placed Schalke 04's dropped further behind the leading trio with a 3-1 loss at VfB Stuttgart thanks to Vedad Ibisevic's hat-trick.
Stuttgart, who pulled even with Schalke with 25 points each, stormed ahead after two minutes through Ibisevic before Schalke equalised in the 12th minute though Ciprian Marica.
Ibisevic gave Stuttgart the lead 2-1 from the spot in the 38th minute and completed his hat-trick after 61 minutes.
Both teams finished with 10 men as Gotoku Sakai of Stuttgart (67th minute) and Schalke's Jermaine Jones (73rd) were sent off.
With 24 points, Eintracht Frankfurt could pass Schalke if they get a point at home against Werder Bremen later Saturday.
On Friday, Artjoms Rednevs scored two goals in Hamburg's 2-0 victory at home over Hoffenheim. Hamburg have 24 points and Hoffenheim 12.
Sebastian Polter (27th minute) and Markus Feulner (90th) scored to give Nuremberg (19 points) a 2-0 win over Fortuna Duesseldorf (18).
Freiburg (23) won 1-0 over Greuther Fuerth (8) thanks to Daniel Caligiuri's goal in the 15th minute.
The other Sunday match is Borussia Moenchengladbach (21) hosting Mainz 05 (23).
- AFP/fa
Football: Comfortable Bayern cruise as Dortmund slip
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Football: Comfortable Bayern cruise as Dortmund slip
