Berlin, April 13 (IANS) Borussia Dortmund brought Bayern Munich down to earth with a 3-0 win while Hamburg and Stuttgart conceded late goals in their relegation battles in the 30th round of Bundesliga.
Dortmund inflicted upon newly-crowned champions Bayern Munich their second straight loss in the league Saturday. Despite the result, Bayern have a 17-point advantage atop the standings as Dortmund cemented their second place and a Champions League berth for next season, reports Xinhua.
Bayern started with a higher percentage of possession but lacked in vigour to overcome Dortmund’s well-positioned defence. In contrast, Dortmund needed only a few chances to break the deadlock through Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who found the back of the net after a Marco Reus’ build-up (20th minute).
Bayern nearly restored parity but Roman Weidenfeller saved Mario Mandzukic’s volley from close range.
After the restart, Dortmund shocked the Bavarians as Marco Reus scored to make it 2-0 (49th). The visitors were not done with the scoring as Jonas Hoffmann made it 3-0 seven minutes later.
Things changed from bad to worse for the German champions as Rafinha was sent off with a red card for a violent conduct to Mkhitaryan.
Elsewhere, Hannover eased their relegation worries with a last gasp 2-1 victory over Hamburg with Didier Ya Konan scoring the winner at home. With the result Hamburg remain in relegation play-off berth while Hannover worked out a five-point advantage to the drop zone.
Relegation-threatened Stuttgart squandered a 1-0 lead to share the spoils with Monchengladbach’s Juan Arango securing a late 1-1 draw.
At the other bottom clash, Freiburg reaped a 2-0 triumph over last positioned Braunschweig. The victory ensures three decisive points for Freiburg’s survival in the top flight and puts an end to Braunschweig’s two-game winning streak.
Braunschweig’s Damir Vrancic helped Christian Streich’s side to open the scoring with an own goal in the eighth minute before Julian Schuster made it two after the break. With the three points, Freiburg stay five points clear of relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg jumped to fourth position, a Champions League play-off spot, as they came from behind to crush next to last Nuremberg 4-1.
Mainz boosted their Europa League hopes when they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Bremen.
