Bayern, Dortmund draw top of the table clash – Wolves warm-up for Gent with Gladbach win

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DORTMUND, Germany, March 5, (Agencies): Bayern Munich protected their five-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday, drawing 0-0 at second-placed Borussia Dortmund to stay on track for a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title.

The game, broadcast to 208 countries, lived up to its big billing with a frantic pace and a goal was the only thing missing from an entertaining encounter.

Bayern wasted a golden chance early on when Thomas Mueller’s effort went narrowly over.

Arturo Vidal also came close for the visitors while Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was denied by keeper Manuel Neuer after charging through on goal.

The best scoring opportunity fell to Bayern’s Douglas Costa who raced clear with only keeper Roman Buerki to beat but the Swiss stood his ground to deny the winger.

Bayern, chasing three trophies this season, kept up the pressure in the second half and Buerki made the save of the game on the hour, tipping a thunderous Vidal shot on to the bar.

The result lifted the Bavarians, who lost 2-1 to Mainz 05 in midweek, to 63 points from 25 games with Dortmund on 58.

Wolfsburg warmed up for their Champions League clash at home to Gent with a 2-1 Bundesliga win over Borussia Moenchengladach on Saturday as Germany midfielder Julian Draxler scored again.

The win moved Wolfsburg up to seventh ahead of the visit of Gent on Tuesday, with the Germans leading 3-2 from the last 16, first leg tie in Belgium.

Draxler, who also netted in Wolfsburg’s 4-0 drubbing of bottom side Hanover 96 on Tuesday, opened the scoring at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena.

The attacking midfielder claimed his fourth goal in his last four games when he crashed home Andre Schuerrle’s final pass with 15 minutes gone.

His Germany team-mate Max Kruse added a second just two minutes later as the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead.

Gladbach, who dropped to fifth, pulled a goal back when Brazilian striker Raffael claimed his 12th goal of the season on 23 minutes.

Bayer Leverkusen came back from 3-0 down to avoid a fourth straight league defeat in their 3-3 draw at Augsburg.

Augsburg’s South Korea striker Koo Ja-Cheol scored his first hat-trick in Germany’s top flight to put the hosts 3-0 up mid-way through the second-half.

Koo, playing his sixth season in Germany after spells at Wolfsburg and Mainz, wrapped up his hat-trick inside the hour.

Leverkusen fought back with goals by Karim Bellarabi and an own goal from Augsburg’s Dutch defender Paul Verhaegh on 80 minutes.

In the dying stages, defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw used his hands to block a shot which saw the referee point straight to the penalty spot.

Augsburg were denied a first win over Leverkusen at the tenth attempt when Hakan Calhanoglu converted the 92nd-minute spot kick as Gouweleeuw was sent off.

Leverkusen’s suspended coach Roger Schmidt was in Spain to watch Villarreal ahead of their Europa League last 16, first leg trip on Thursday.

Standings

                         P  W    D     L   GF  GA Pts

Bayern Munich       25  20     3     2    59    13  63

Dortmund             25  18     4     3    59    25  58

Hertha Berlin          24  12     6     6    33    24  42

Schalke 04           25  12     5     8    37    32  41

Bor Gladbach         25  12     3    10    50    42  39

Mainz 05              24  12     3     9    34    30  39

Wolfsburg             25  10     7     8    38    32  37

Leverkusen           25  10     6     9    36    33  36

Ingolstadt 04          25    8     8     9    19    26  32

VfB Stuttgart          25    9     4    12    40    49  31

Cologne               25    7     9     9    26    33  30

Hamburg              24    7     7    10    28    34  28

Werder Bremen       25    7     6    12    35    48  27

Augsburg             25    6     8    11    30    38  26

Darmstadt             24    6     7    11    25    38  25

Frankfurt              25    5     9    11    28    40  24

Hoffenheim           25    4     9    12    26    42  21

Hanover 96           25    5     2    18    22    46  17

Note: Standings read as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points.

Having shocked Leverkusen 4-1 on Wednesday when Claudio Pizarro scored a hat-trick, Werder Bremen pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 4-1 thrashing at home to bottom side Hanover 96.

The 37-year-old Pizarro claimed his fourth goal in two games, and his 11th league goal of the season, when he flicked the ball over his shoulder, beating three defenders, and rifled home on 26 minutes.

He then provided an assist as Czech international Gebre Selassie added Bremen’s third on 56 minutes.

Stuttgart are now up to mid-table after their 5-1 thrashing of second-from-bottom Hoffenheim as defender Georg Niedermeier netted twice.

Hoffenheim, under coach Julian Nagelsmann, 28, the youngest coach in Bundesliga history, remain four points from safety with nine games left.

Schalke are fourth after their 3-1 win at Cologne thanks to goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Max Meyer and Argentina striker Franco di Santo who scored straight after coming off the bench.

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