Dortmund, Bayern pull away in German Bundesliga

Dortmund defend their top spot in the table with a 4-2 comeback win over Hannover while Bayern made use of a controversial penalty to beat Augsburg 2-1 at the 5th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.

Borussia Dortmund improve their record to four straight wins in as many games after they overpowered Hannover thanks to the brace by "BVB's" top scorer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

Thomas Tuchel's men controlled the proceedings on the pitch from the kick-off yet it were the hosts who opened the scoring with 18 minutes into the game. Hiroshi Kiyotake played a through ball into the path of Leon Andreasen, whose square pass assisted Artur Sobiech with the opener from inside the box.

Dortmund pressed Hannover into to defence but after all the "BVB" had to wait until the 35th minute before Hannover's Felipe fouled Jonas Hoffman to cause a foul play penalty. Aubameyang stepped up and converted the penalty to restore parity.

Things changed from bad to worse for the hosts as Henrikh Mkhitaryan unleashed a hammer into the top left corner to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards before the break.

Michael Frontzek's men recovered after the break to shock the "BVB" with the two-all draw through Sobiech, who wrapped up his brace from 15 meters at the 53rd minute.

However, Hannover defender Felipe caught a day to forget as he ensured the 3-2 lead for Dortmund with a failed clearance attempt at the 67th minute. The defender was again in the thick off things moments later after causing the second penalty, which was converted by Aubameyang, who rounded off the 4-2 win with his fifth goal at the fourth Bundesliga game.

With the result, Hannover wait for their first win while Dortmund extended their perfect record to defend their first place against Bayern Munich due to the better goal difference.

Bayern Munich craved out their fourth win in as many games by beating Augsburg 2-1 at the "Bavarian" derby. The German record champions cancelled out Alexander Esswein's opener and bounced back by courtesy of goals by Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller.

Josep Guardiola's men dominated the encounter throughout the match after all it were the visitors who opened the scoring against the run of the game. Augsburg's Alexander Esswein made use of Ja Cheol Koo's pass to slot home from 15 meters into the top right to punish the wasteful hosts with two minutes remaining in the first half.

Even though Bayern pressed frenetically for the leveller after the restart, they had to wait until the 77th minute before Lewandowski made use of Mueller's rebound to tap in from very close range.

Nevertheless, Bayern were able to snatch a late win as referee Knut Kirchner awarded the German record champions a controversial foul play penalty in the closing period which was converted by Bundesliga top scorer Thomas Mueller, who marked his sixth goal of the season.

With the victory, Bayern hold the pace with front-runners Dortmund, both have 12 points and a four-point advantage to the third place. Meanwhile Augsburg suffered their second loss in row.

Elsewhere, newly promoted Darmstadt upset Leverkusen thanks to the winner by Aytac Sulu. Darmstadt inflicted Leverkusen the second straight loss to celebrate their first Bundesliga win after 33 years.

Berlin extended Stuttgart's negative run of four consecutive defeats as Genki Haraguchi and Fabian Lustenberger provided the goals at the 2-1 win on home soil.

Wolfsburg shared the spoils with Bundesliga newcomers Ingolstadt after goalless draw and Frankfurt crushed Cologne 6-2 owing to the brace by new arrival Luc Castaignos and the hat rick by injury returnee Alexander Meier.

The following fixtures conclude the fourth round of Bundesliga on Sunday: Hoffenheim encounter Bremen and Schalke clash with Mainz.

Source: XINHUA