Gomez double fires Bayern sixth in Bundesliga

Germany striker Mario Gomez scored twice on Sunday as defending champions Bayern Munich went sixth in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win over Nuremberg.

The defending champions are still 12 points behind league leaders Dortmund, who have a seven-point lead at the top of the table after their 2-0 win over Hamburg on Friday.

Coach Louis van Gaal said he expects his side to be title contenders, despite having a 12-point deficit to make up.

“We have to try and get at least 30 points, then we will have a chance,” said the Dutchman.

“I think Dortmund are very lucky at the moment, but they have a good team, they are well organised, play well and have a good coach.

“Their players really want to win.”

Bayern took an early lead in Munich when Gomez took a clever pass from Croatia’s Danijel Pranjic and fired home on 10 minutes.

Germany captain Philipp Lahm then netted a penalty in the 57th minute before Gomez sealed victory with his 75th-minute header, his seventh league goal.

Gomez could have completed his hat-trick, but he fired an 87th-minute penalty over the bar.

“I knew where I wanted to shoot the ball, I really wanted it and I was so confident the penalty would work out,” said Gomez.

“I am really angry with myself.”

There was more good news for Bayern as France winger Franck Ribery made a second-half appearance, his first game since he injured his ankle in September.

Earlier, Senegal striker Papiss Demba Cisse fired Freiburg up to fourth with his tenth goal in 12 games to seal a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim after he netted in stoppage time.

The 25-year-old scored in the 91st minute after forward partner Stefan Reisinger threaded a pass through the Hoffenheim defence for the African to fire home.

The win lifts Freiburg into the top four and knocks Hoffenheim — who suffered their third straight league defeat — to eighth in the table.

Freiburg now have the chance to take on top side Dortmund at home next Saturday.

On Saturday, Mainz 05’s title aspirations suffered a serious set-back when they were beaten 1-0 at home by ten-man Hanover.

Mainz dropped to third in the table after suffering only their fourth defeat of the season, as Hanover move up to seventh.

Leverkusen move into second thanks to their 1-0 win at St Pauli as Brazilian midfielder Renato Augusto scored the winner with time almost up.

Moenchengladbach got themselves off the bottom of the Bundesliga with an impressive 4-0 win over Cologne.

After last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Bayern Munich, ‘Gladbach picked up only their second win of the season to put Cologne bottom of the table with just eight points.

Schalke claimed a point as they fought back from 2-0 down to draw at Wolfsburg after strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite both scored for the hosts.

The result leaves Schalke 16th and Wolfsburg, coached by ex-England manager Steve McClaren, in 12th.

Stuttgart allowed a 3-0 lead to slip to a 3-3 draw at Kaiserslautern.

The draw lifts Stuttgart to 14th and puts Kaiserslautern 15th while Werder Bremen remain in midtable after their goalless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.

On Friday, Bundesliga leaders Dortmund underlined their credentials at the top of the table with a 2-0 home win over Hamburg.

In pouring rain at Dortmund’s packed Signal Iduna Park in front of a sell-out 80,720 crowd, second-half goals by Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa, his sixth of the season, and Lucas Barrios, his seventh, sealed the win.