Leaders Dortmund resume normal service
Sunday, January 16, 2011
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Borussia Dortmund opened up a 12-point lead at the Bundesliga summit with a 3-1 victory at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on a weekend when titleholders FC Bayern München fell further off the pace.
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Normal service resumed for Borussia Dortmund this weekend as a 3-1 win away against Bundesliga rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen handed them a 12-point lead at the summit.
Beaten for the first time since the opening day of the season when they lost 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt before Christmas, Dortmund prevailed on Friday evening thanks to two goals from Kevin Grosskreutz and a third from Mario Götze. Stefan Kiessling pulled one back ten minutes from time, but it was not enough to prevent the hosts dropping to fourth.
For Jürgen Klopp's side, the victory increased their cushion over 1. FSV Mainz 05, who lost 1-0 at struggling VfB Stuttgart on Saturday and were duly overtaken 24 hours later. Hannover 96 are the side now in second thanks to their 3-0 win away against Frankfurt, which came courtesy of goals from Mohammed Abdellaoue, Christian Schulz and Didier Konan Ya.
Titleholders FC Bayern München stand 16 points off the pace in fifth, meanwhile, after they were held 1-1 at VfL Wolfsburg, a draw which left Steve McClaren's team four points above the bottom three. Two points below the 2008/09 champions lie FC St Pauli, following their 2-2 draw against SC Freiburg, with second-bottom Stuttgart joined in the relegation zone by 1. FC Köln – who drew 1-1 at 1. FC Kaiserslauten – and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1-0 victors at 1. FC Nürnberg.
Elsewhere, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his sixth league goal of the campaign to give seventh-placed Hamburger SV a 1-0 triumph at FC Schalke 04. As for SV Werder Bremen, they eased their relegation concerns with a 2-1 home win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Torsten Frings burying the decisive goal two minutes into second-half added time.
