Bundesliga, Week 13: Bayern blast Hannover, BVB jump into second

Bayer Leverkusen held on through a late Hoffenheim surge to win 2-1 and take all three points at the Rhein Neckar Arena.

The visitors jumped out to a lead after 15 minutes with a goal from Lars Bender. Hoffenheim failed to clear a Gonzalo Castro free kick, and Simon Rolfes headed the ball into the path of Bender. He poked the ball past Koen Casteels for the lead.

Freiburg hammered Stuttgart 3-0 in a Baden-Württemberg derby on Sunday afternoon. The win moves Freiburg all the way up to 6th place in the table while Stuttgart languishes down in 12th.

Pavel Krmas was on hand to knock in a rebound in the 67th minute to make it 2-0. Stuttgart capitulated, and Max Kruse scored six minutes later to make it 3-0. Stuttgart didn’t manage another competent attack in the match.

Greuther Fürth and Nürnberg played to a scoreless draw which was enough for Nürnberg to pull themselves out of the relegation zone. Fürth are now winless in eleven games.

Fürth had the best opportunity in the early going of the contest, but Gerald Asamoah was unable to beat Raphael Schäfer on a one on one. Asamoah was clean through after a mistake by Javier Pinola, but Timm Klose cleared the ball after Schäfer’s save.

Bayern Munich re-established a nine point lead atop the Bundesliga with a massive 5-0 victory over Hannover at the Allianz Arena.

It was much of the same in the second half as Dante headed a Kroos free kick toward the goal. Zieler was able to get his hands to it, but he was unable to keep the ball out of the net.

Fortuna Düsseldorf took all three points at home for the first time this season in a 2-0 victory over Hamburg on Friday afternoon. A bigger issue may arise for Hamburg, as Rafael Van der Vaart left the pitch in the first half with a hamstring injury.

The visitors set out in a more defensive shape, and went even more defensive when Van der Vaart had to leave due to the injury. Still, Hamburg thought they struck first, but Michael Mancienne’s goal was ruled back for offside.

German clubs had another really good week in European competition with only one loss in seven matches in the Champions League and Europa League. Last weekend, Bayern Munich managed to stretch their lead atop the table to eight points, while Stuttgart and Wolfsburg put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

Fortuna Düsseldrof vs Hamburg - 20:30 CET / 2:30 PM EDT