Bayern boosted by five-point cushion
Saturday, November 27, 2004
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FC Bayern München increased their Bundesliga advantage to five points with victory against 1. FSV Mainz 05.
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By Mark Bennett
FC Bayern München increased their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to five points with a 4-2 win against 1. FSV Mainz 05 as VfL Wolfsburg slipped to a home defeat.
Entertaining match
Bayern controlled the action for long periods against Mainz at the Olympiastadion and were in control by half-time after goals from Claudio Pizarro, Mehmet Scholl and Roy Makaay. The visitors, however, fought back after the break with Christof Babatz and Claudius Weber scoring in the last ten minutes to set home nerves jangling, but Michael Ballack added Bayern's fourth goal late on to make the points safe.
Lead extended
Bayern therefore moved five points clear of FC Schalke 04 and Wolfsburg, but Schalke can close the gap on Sunday when they take on DSC Arminia Bielefeld in the Arena AufSchalke. Fourth-placed VfB Stuttgart, six points behind Bayern, go to Hannover 96 in Sunday's other game.
Marcelinho magic
Wolfsburg slipped to third place after a 3-2 home defeat against Hertha BSC Berlin. Marcelinho gave Hertha a two-goal lead by the 47th minute, but Wolfsburg drew level thanks to strikes from Pablo Thiam and Thomas Brdaric. However, Marcelinho completed his hat-trick 16 minutes from the end to give the visitors all three points.
Duo delighted
Elsewhere, both Werder Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen secured much needed wins. Champions Bremen overcame BV Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Weserstadion thanks to strikes from Johan Micoud and Valérien Ismaël, while Leverkusen earned their first away win of the season at FC Hansa Rostock. Dimitar Berbatov gave the visitors the lead before the break and Andriy Voronin doubled the advantage midway through the second half. Rostock therefore remained bottom of the Bundesliga and have yet to pick up a single point at home.
Ten men triumph
In Saturday's other matches, Hamburger SV cruised to a 3-1 win at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to two goals from Sergej Barbarez despite losing Khaled Boulahrouz to a red card early in the second half. 1. FC Kaiserslautern ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against SC Freiburg, Ioannis Amanatidis scoring twice, while Vratislav Lokvenc also scored two goals in VfL Bochum 1848's 3-1 success against 1. FC Nürnberg.
