Bundesliga Review: Bayern thrash Bremen as Hoffenheim leave Wolfsburg sheepish

Bayern Munich piled the pressure on Bundesliga title rivals Borussia Dortmund with a 5-0 thrashing of Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Thiago Alcantara scored his first league goal in 748 days to give Pep Guardiola’s side the lead, which was doubled by Thomas Muller before half-time.

Muller struck again after the break, slotting in a rebound after Franck Ribery forced Felix Wiedwald to parry his stunning volley from a corner, before Robert Lewandowski and Thiago added two more goals in the final four minutes.

Bayern are now back to an eight-point advantage at the top of the table ahead of Dortmund’s clash with Mainz on Sunday.

Hoffenheim took advantage of Bremen’s defeat to give their survival hopes a shot in the arm by beating Wolfsburg 1-0.

Andrej Kramaric scored after just three minutes and, though Kevin Volland missed a penalty, Hoffe held on to seal a win which moves them to within three points of safety.

Borussia Monchengladbach moved back into fourth with a comfortable 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, a result which keeps the latter in the bottom three, while two goals from Leonardo Bittencourt pushed his former employers Hannover closer to relegation as they lost at home to Cologne.

Augsburg remain above Darmstadt in 13th after Alfred Finnbogason’s 90th-minute penalty secured a 2-2 draw after the visitors had been 2-0 down at the Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor, but the game of the day was thrilling draw between Ingolstadt and Stuttgart.

Dario Lezcano’s strike made it 3-1 to Ingolstadt just past the hour mark, but a goal from Lukas Rupp and a penalty six minutes from time from Daniel Didavi secured a 3-3 draw which keeps Stuttgart a point behind Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.