Bayern Munich win, Dortmund stumble

Berlin: League leaders Bayern Munich humiliated Schalke 4-0 to extend their gap atop the standings to 15 points as Hamburg thrashed Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in the 21st round of the German Bundesliga.

The "Bavarians" dominated Schalke in every department of the game straight from the kick off. Bayern opened the scoring through David Alaba who converted a penalty following a foul play by Marco Hoeger inside the box, 19 minutes into the match. Bayern dictated the proceeding on the pitch as Bastian Schweinsteiger doubled the lead with a free-kick goal. Schalke were incapable of keeping up with the German record champions and Alaba sealed his brace after an assist by Gomez six minutes into second half. Bayern were not done with the scoring as Gomez made it 4-0 at the 63rd minute to seal the deal ahead of time against helpless Schalke. Schalke drop from sixth to ninth position with 29 points. Hamburg surprisingly crushed Dortmund 4-1 to inflict on them their fourth loss of the season. The "Rothosen" started highly motivated into the match whereas Dortmund needed some time to gain a foothold into the match. Still it was Dortmund that had the chance to break the deadlock through youngster Mario Goetze who shot just wide of the post from inside the box, with 15 minutes played. His teammate Robert Lewandowski though capitalised on a black out by Hamburg`s Heiko Westermann, to slot home the opener on home soil. Hamburg answered a minute later when a combination by Marcell Jansen via Dennis Aogo found Artjoms Rudnevs inside the box, who tapped in from close range. With 26 minutes into the match Hamburg grabbed the lead through Heung Min Son following a solo run and goal. The South Korean shrugged off defender Mats Hummels to curl home into the top far post corner. Dortmund`s situation worsened in the 31st minute as Polish international Lewandowski was sent off with a straight red card following a foul on Per Ciljan Skjelbred. Rudnevs made it 3-1 on the scoreboard to seal his brace, after he nodded home a cross by Rafael van der Vaart at the 62nd minute while Heung Min Son tapped in an assist by Marcell Jansen to mark the final 4-1 score. Hamburg jump from ninth to fifth position with 31 points whilst Dortmund stay in second position with 39 points. IANS