Leipzig lose top spot to Bayern in Bundesliga

IANS

Munich, Dec 11 (IANS) Title holders Bayern Munich cruised to a 5-0 victory over Wolfsburg to grab top spot while last-placed Ingolstadt upset unbeaten Leipzig with a 1-0 win at the 14th round of Bundesliga football.

Bayern recaptured the lead in Germany's top flight football after Carlo Ancelotti's men crushed hapless Wolfsburg 5-0 thanks to the brace from striker Robert Lewandowski on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bayern Munich assumed control against their passive visitors and needed only 18 minutes to break the deadlock as veteran winger Arjen Robben had all time and space to curl the ball from the edge of the box into the far post corner.

The hosts gained momentum with the opener and doubled the lead four minutes later through Lewandowski, who capitalised on a deflected shot on target from midfielder Arturo Vidal to score from close range.

Wolfsburg's offence was unable to threat Bayern. After the restart, Bayern smoothed the way for the win as Lewandowski marked his 11th goal of the season, guiding team-mate Thomas Mueller's shot on target in the 58th minute.

Mueller then scored in the 76th minute before Douglas Costa rounded off the 5-0 win with a powerful shot from outside of the box in the dying minutes of the game.

With the result, Wolfsburg remained winless in fourth straight games, rooted at the 15th position.

Last place Ingolstadt stunned Leipzig 1-0, who suffered their first loss of the season.

With the loss, Leipzig slipped from the first to second place while Ingolstadt climbed from 18th to 17th.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen shocked third-placed Hertha Berlin 1-0 as Max Kruse netted the only goal of the match.

Dortmund managed a point against Cologne with a 1-1 draw. Dortmund's Marco Reus' late goal cancelled out Colgne's Anthony Modeste's early opener.

Hamburg sealed their second straight win with a 1-0 victory over Augsburg. Freiburg reaped a 1-0 victory thanks to Nils Petersen's penalty against Darmstadt, who slipped to the bottom of the standings with the defeat.

--IANS

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