Bayern' s title defence ahead of schedule was postponed by Dortmund' s 3-0 victory at struggling Stuttgart following the 31st round in Bundesliga on Saturday.

The German giants secured a hard earned 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin but Dortmund' s win in Stuttgart avoided Bayern' s fourth Bundesliga title in row with three rounds to spare. However, Bayern need only another win to wrap up the 26th Bundesliga title in the club' s history.

Josep Guardiola' s team needed 48 minutes to overcome Berlin' s well-positioned bulwark. It was Arturo Vidal, who made use of Mario Goetze' s square pass and Niklas Stark' s deflection to break the deadlock from outside of the box.

Bayern kept it going and put the game beyond doubt in the 79th minute as Douglas Costas unleashed a banger from 25 meters to double the lead into the far post corner.

With the result, Bayern clinched the 26th victory in the 31st game to stay atop the standings with a seven-point advantage and three rounds to play. Berlin remain on the fourth place, which would secure a berth in Europe for next season.

Runner-up Dortmund crushed struggling Stuttgart 3-0 as Henrikh Mkhitaryan provided two assists and one goal to increase the hosts' relegation worries.

Dortmund took the reins from the kick-off to reward their efforts with 21 minutes played when Shinji Kagawa tapped in Mkhitaryan' s cross to the far post. The Armenian was again in the thick of things, as his parried shot on target allowed Christian Pulisic to mark his second goal and to become the youngest player in Bundesliga history marking two goals at 17 years.

Stuttgart were unable to put up some resistance on home soil as Thomas Tuchel' s men added a third goal. Stuttgart' s custodian Przemyslaw Tyton denied Adrian Ramos initial header before Mkhitaryan rounded off the rebound to sew up a 3-0 win on the road.

The "BVB" continue on the second place while 15th placed Stuttgart slipped into the regelation battle with just two points to the drop zone.

Elsewhere, Leverkusen tighten the third position in the standings after coming from behind from 0-2 to win 3-2 at Schalke.

Augsburg eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 win at cost of Wolfsburg' s UEFA Europa League hopes.

Cologne edged newly promoted Darmstadt 4-1 by courtesy of Marcel Risse' s brace and ten-man Ingolstadt squandered a 2-0 lead to share the spoils with bottom side Hannover following a two-all draw.

The following fixtures complete the 31st round: Monchengladbach host Hoffenheim and struggling Frankfurt encounter Mainz. 

Source: XINHUA