Bayern Munich strengthened their grip on the Bundesliga title race with a 3-0 win over Augsburg which extended their lead at the top of the table to six points.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice to seal his side’s victory while Bayern’s closest rivals RB Leipzig lost valuable ground as they were held to a 2-2 draw at 10-man Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern breezed to victory over their struggling Bavarian rivals with Arturo Vidal opening the scoring on the half-hour mark before Lewandowski maintained his stunning recent scoring record with a brace either side of half-time.
Augsburg, beaten 6-0 in the equivalent fixture last season with Lewandowski netting a hat-trick, were lucky to avoid the same fate as Vidal hit the bar late on and Arjen Robben and Joshua Kimmich also came close.
Timo Werner struck RB Leipzig ahead from the penalty spot at Bayer Leverkusen as his side looked to build on their win over Hannover two weeks ago and stay firmly in the title race.
Leon Bailey equalised on the stroke of half-time for the hosts, but Leipzig went back in front from another penalty in the 54th minute, Emil Forsberg converting after a handball by Benjamin Henrichs that earned the substitute a red card after just six minutes on the pitch.
But the visitors were still unable to cling on for the win as Leverkusen striker Kevin Volland grabbed a point with a superb finish with 16 minutes left on the clock.
Brazilian striker Raffael scored twice as Borussia Monchengladbach won 4-2 away to Hertha Berlin.
Lars Stindl and a Thorgan Hazard penalty put the visitors 2-0 up inside the first 14 minutes before Raffael netted his first to make it 3-0 with 20 minutes gone.
Hertha launched a strong comeback with Vedad Ibisevic and Mitchell Weiser reducing the deficit to a single goal before Raffael sealed his side’s win with his second on 77 minutes.
Fourth-placed Hoffenheim’s recent frustrations continued as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Eintracht Frankfurt to make it just one Bundesliga win in six for Julian Nagelsmann’s side.
Kevin Boateng put the visitors ahead in the 13th minute and they looked like holding on for three points that would have taken them above their opponents in the table until Mark Uth struck to salvage a point in injury time.
Wolfsburg put further valuable space between themselves and the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Freiburg.
Yannick Gerhardt gave Wolfsburg an early lead before Yunus Malli added a second on the half-hour. Freiburg briefly reduced the deficit through Bartosz Kapustka, but Malli’s second killed the game off 20 minutes from time.
Cologne remain stranded at the bottom of the table after another defeat, this time at Mainz where Daniel Brosinski’s 43rd-minute penalty gave the hosts a 1-0 win despite the 73rd-minute dismissal of Giulio Donati.
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Source: Sky Sports