FC Bayern München accelerated their progress towards the Bundesliga title by moving a dominant 15 points clear with a 4-0 victory against FC Schalke 04, as nearest challengers Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen failed to win.

Bayern have dropped points in just four games this season, losing only one, and they set the tone 19 minutes in against the side from Gelsenkirchen. Marco Höger brought down Franck Ribéry in the box, and that allowed David Alaba to bury the ball into the bottom-left corner from the spot. Bastian Schweinsteiger's free-kick doubled the advantage ahead of the break before Alaba added his second, with Mario Gomez making it four on 63 minutes.

Dortmund lost ground as Hamburger SV completed the double against the defending champions with a 4-1 away success. Robert Lewandowski struck the opener on 17 minutes, before being dismissed 14 minutes later, while Son Heung-Min and Artjoms Rudņevs both scored twice to move HSV fifth, despite having Jeffrey Bruma sent off.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen were unable to leapfrog Dortmund into second as they drew a rollercoaster encounter at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-3. From 2-1 down, the Werkself went ahead thanks to efforts from Stefan Kiessling and André Schürrle, before Patrick Herrmann headed in with four minutes remaining. Elsewhere, Mehmet Ekici registered twice as SV Werder Bremen won 4-1 at VfB Stuttgart.