Bayern beat Dortmund, Wolfsburg crush Stuttgart

Berlin, Nov 2 (IANS) Bayern Munich reaped a 2-1 comeback win over Dortmund while Ivan Perisic’s brace helped Wolfsburg to crush Stuttgart 4-0 in the 10th round of Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich came from behind with two second half goals against a struggling Dortmund Saturday. Marco Reus caught the ‘Bavarians’ flat-footed with the opener at the half hour mark but Bayern remained unimpressed to score two goals within 13 minutes in the closing period, reports Xinhua.

Both sides started offensively but hosts Bayern ensured the first chance when Arjen Robben’s shot were deflected to the bar. Dortmund were also on target through Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who rattled Bayern’s woodwork only minutes later.

The visitors kept it going and broke the deadlock with 31 minutes into the game as Pierre-Emmerick Aubameyang’s pinpoint cross found Reus inside the box, who headed home into bottom left.

After the restart, Bayern pressed frenetically to create goal-scoring opportunities through Robben and Thomas Mueller. However, Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller denied a bunch of scoring opportunities yet was hapless at the 72nd minute when Robert Lewandowski restored parity into the bottom right, rewarding Bayern’s pressure.

Bayern utilised their momentum and forced Dortmund to make errors. Dortmund’s Neven Subotic invited Bayern to turn the tides as he fouled Franck Ribery inside the box to cause a penalty in the 85th minute. Robben stepped up and converted the penalty into the bottom right to kill the game.

With the victory, Bayern cement their top position in the table while Dortmund slumped to 16th, a relegation playoff spot.

Elsewhere, clinical ‘Wolves’ scored two goals in each half to inflict Stuttgart the fifth loss of the season. Croatian international Ivan Perisic donated a brace at Wolfsburg’s fifth straight win.

Stuttgart caught the better start on home soil as Martin Harnik forced Diego Benaglio to make a save in the opening period. Wolfsburg lurked on counter-attacks but they were invited to score the opener in the 15th minute when Oriol Romeu’s blocked clearance ended up in the path of Perisic, who slotted home from sharp angle into the far post.

Stuttgart remained unfazed and created promising opportunities through Christian Gentner and Sercan Sararer. Yet it were the hosts who doubled the lead just before the break as Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick found Robin Knoche’s head inside the box.

Stuttgart are well known for their comeback abilities but Wolfsburg put the game beyond doubt with just three minutes into the second half as de Bruyne tapped in Vierinha’s cross into the box. The hosts retracted with the 3-0 lead but were not done Perisic wrapped up his brace following a turnover in the closing period.

With the fifth consecutive win, Wolfsburg climb to second place while Stuttgart slip to 15th in the standings.

In a rough game with many fouls and nine yellow cards, Hamburg secured three points thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Leverkusen. Hamburg broke the deadlock by courtesy of a foul play penalty as Leverkusen’s Bernd Leno brought down Marcell Janssen in the box in the 26th minute.

Leverkusen took the reins in the second half but lacked in ideas to overcome Hamburg’s bulwark, although Karim Bellarabi rattled the right post in the dying minutes of the encounter. With the loss Leverkusen remain fifth whilst Hamburg jump to 14th.

Elsewhere, Bremen turned the tide against Mainz to ensure a 2-1 victory. Mainz’ Shinji Okazaki stunned the visitors, just 150 seconds into the game. The striker was marked by three Bremen defenders but had all time to score the opener. However, Bremen fought back with a double strike by Franco di Santo, who scored just before and after the break.

Hannover earn their fifth win of the campaign as Frankfurt’s Alexander Madlung scored an own goal to bring his side the fourth loss.