BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayern Munich eased past VfL
Wolfsburg 3-0 with a double from Mario Mandzukic as they moved two points clear
at the top of the Bundesliga on Tuesday with a perfect record of five wins.
Croatia forward Mandzukic scored twice against his
former team to take his tally to five after Bastian Schweinsteiger had given the
hosts a 24th minute lead in an impressive display of attacking football by the
Bavarians, who have 15 points.
Second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt came back twice,
including from two goals down, to earn a 3-3 draw at home to champions Borussia
Dortmund, who dropped to fifth place on eight points.
Schalke 04 beat Mainz 05 3-0, with Jefferson Farfan
scoring from the spot in the first half and Lewis Holtby and Teemu Pukki
striking late, as they moved up to third spot on 10 points.
Bayern, who have won all their matches domestically
and in Europe so far this season, made their intentions known from the start and
Schweinsteiger twice rattled the woodwork in the opening 18 minutes as they
poured forward.
The Germany midfielder did even better six minutes
later when Franck Ribery, who had just driven a low shot narrowly wide, chased
the ball down and cut it back into the box for Schweinsteiger who volleyed home
to give Bayern a deserved lead.
New signing Mandzukic, sparkling in the absence of the
injured Mario Gomez, twice came agonisingly close and Arjen Robben saw his
14-metre drive palmed away by goalkeeper Diego Benaglio as the hosts attacked at
will.
MANY CHANCES
"Although we dominated throughout, Wolfsburg were not
an easy opponent," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes told reporters.
"We failed to add another after our 1-0 lead despite
the number of good chances. It was only settled after we scored to go 2-0 up."
Mandzukic made amends for his earlier misses when in
the 57th he headed in a pinpoint Xherdan Shaqiri cross.
Wolfsburg's Ricardo Rodriguez almost snatched a
surprise equaliser against the run of play but his powerful shot from a tight
angle scraped the post from their only real chance.
Mandzukic struck again to put the outcome beyond
doubt, connecting with a Philipp Lahm cross from the right in the 65th to dash
any hopes of a Wolfsburg comeback.
Dortmund, struggling to find consistency this term,
failed to bounce back from Saturday's 3-2 loss at Hamburg, squandering a
two-goal first half lead as Frankfurt scored in the 49th and 51st minute with
Stefan Aigner and Japanese Takashi Inui.
Substitute Mario Goetze put them back in front three
minutes later from close range but surprise package Frankfurt, who won their
first four games, rallied again through Bamba Anderson's header midway through
the second half to rescue a point.
"That was the best performance I have seen from a
Frankfurt team," said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp. "They have had many good
teams in the past but this was top quality."
Promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf continued their fine start
with a 2-0 win at Greuther Fuerth to go fourth on nine points.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
