Dortmund and Leverkusen remain in the hunt of front-runners Bayern Munich as Dortmund cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Frankfurt and Leverkusen overcame Augsburg 2-1 at the 22nd round of German Bundesliga on Saturday.
Dortmund defended their second position, 15 point clear of Bayern, as they edged helpless Frankfurt 3-0 thanks to the hat-rick by Marco Reus.
The "BVB" staged a perfect start as they caught newly promoted Frankfurt flat footed with eight minutes into the match. Reus made use of an assist by Mario Goetze to break the deadlock left footed.
The hosts needed another two minutes to double the lead as Reus had all time and space to finish a through ball into the inside right.
Frankfurt were unable to gain a foothold into the match although Dortmund were reduced to ten men as Julian Schieber was sent off for his second bookable offence at the 31st minute.
Despite Dortmund's ten men Frankfurt were unable to snatch any advantages. In contrast, Dortmund were able to further extend the lead through Reus who capitalized on a build up play by Goetze to make it 3-0 at the 65th minute.
Frankfurt pressed for their consolation but instead Takashi Inui was sent off for his second bookable offence.
Frankfurt stay on 4th position with 37 points while Dortmund defended second position with 42 points.
Leverkusen had to make amendments owing to their 1-0 home loss to Benfica at the UEFA Europa League therefore they earned a 2-1 hard fought win over relegation threatened Augsburg that never lost the hope.
The visitors from Augsburg took immediately over after kick-off meanwhile Leverkusen needed some time to gain a foothold into the game.
As the match progressed Augsburg were unable to make use of their possession and so it was Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling who broke the deadlock with 14 minutes into the match to score his 15th of the season. The top scorer headed home a long cross into the box by Gonzalo Castro.
After the break Augsburg remained incapable to utilize their chances as Ji Dong Won, Michael Parkhurst and Ander Hahn came only close to level the score.
Consequently Leverkusen sealed the deal following a rebound to double the lead at the 75th minute. Lars Bender utilized an assist by Stefan Kiessling to slot home into bottom left.
Augsburg were only able to score the consolation at the 89th minute through Sascha Moelders.
Augsburg reside on 17th position with 15 points whilst Leverkusen sit on 3rd position with 41 points.
Freiburg and Bremen staged a topsy-turvy goal festival with the better end for Freiburg that secured the first win over the hosts since 11 years.
Freiburg took the lead twice before Matthias Ginter wrapped up the 3-2 away victory.
Freiburg opened the scoring in a fast paced encounter with 36 minutes into the match when Max Kruse finished an assist by Jan Rosenthal.
The hosts needed only three minutes to respond as Nils Petersen beat Freiburg keeper Oliver Baumann following a fast break.
Ten minutes into the second half Freiburg again took the lead as Daniel Caliguiri converted a foul play penalty.
Bremen answered with the equalizer for the second time as Petersen tapped in a cross by Marko Arnautovic into the open goal as Freiburg goalkeeper and defenders misjudged a cross at the 64th minute.
Nonetheless Freiburg were not done with scoring as Matthias Ginter scored the winner at the 70th minute with a follow up shot after a corner.
Freiburg remain on 5th position with 34 points meanwhile Schalke climb from 10th to 8th position with 30 points.
Elsewhere, Mainz took the lead twice but Schalke's loanee Michel Bastos scored twice to secure a two all draw at away.
Hamburg sealed a neat 1-0 win over Monchengladbach thanks to the winner by Rafael van der Vaart and newly promoted Dusseldorf defeated ten men bottom team Freuther Fuerth 1-0.
The following matches are scheduled for Sunday: Nuremberg encounters Hannover whereas Hoffenheim hosts Stuttgart.
