Dortmund maintain lead with win at Wolfsburg
Reuters - Saturday 07 April 2012, 18:50
Two goals from Robert
Lewandowski allowed Borussia Dortmund to grab a 3-1 win at VfL
Wolfsburg and stay three points clear at the top of the
Bundesliga on Saturday, while Bayern Munich were hot on their
heels following a 2-1 win against Augsburg.
Dortmund top scorer Lewandowski tapped in a fine Ivan
Perisic cut-back in the 22nd minute and Ilkay Gundogan doubled
their lead with a curled shot from the edge of the box as the
champions extended their unbeaten streak to 23 games with five
left to play.
Mario Mandzukic headed in to cut the deficit in the 61st for
Wolfsburg, who were left with 10 men a little later after
captain Alexander Madlung received a second booking.
Despite frantic efforts by the hosts for an equaliser,
Lewandowski killed off the game in a quick break, beating goalkeeper
Diego Benaglio in the 90th for his 19th league goal to lift
Dortmund to 66 points.
"You have to be happy if you win 3-1 at Wolfsburg who are a
very uncomfortable opponent," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
"But we got that third goal and I think overall we are very
satisfied."
Bayern, who are still chasing a treble after qualifying for
the Champions League last four, snatched their ninth straight
win in all competitions after Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez
scored twice to take his league tally to 25.
EARLY GOAL
Bayern, who also face Dortmund in the German Cup final in
May, were eager go into the April 11 league match-up against
Dortmund with only a three-point gap and got off to a flying
start.
The hosts, who had midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger back in
the starting line-up after a knee injury, needed only 25 seconds
to score. Gomez found the back of the net with a close range
effort following a dizzying run down the wing by Franck Ribery
straight after the start.
Gomez, in spectacular form this season, added his 25th
league goal on the hour, racing into the box to connect with an
Arjen Robben pass from the right after Augsburg had briefly
levelled with Koo Ja-cheol.
Bayern are second on 63 with five games left in the
campaign.
Borussia Monchengladbach lost further ground for automatic
Champions League qualification when they drew 0-0 against
17th-placed Hertha Berlin to stay in fourth place on 52.
VfB Stuttgart boosted their chances of European football
next season with a 4-1 win over Mainz 05 that lifted them up to
fifth place on 43.
At the other end of the table Kaiserslautern dropped deeper
into trouble after losing 2-1 at home against Hoffenheim. The
basement club seem condemned to go down at the end of the season
as they have 20 points, nine below the relegation-playoff
threshold, after a 19-match winless streak.
Cologne remain third from bottom, in the relegation play-off
spot, following a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen, who are now
without a win for four games. Werder are sixth with 41 points
and in danger of dropping out of the European spots.