Bundesliga roundup: Bayern Munick back on top as Leipzig lose first game, Gladbach end winless run

Berlin: Bayern Munich routed Wolfsburg 5-0 and took advantage of Leipzig’s first defeat to replace the promoted side at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Leipzig’s record 13-game unbeaten start was finally ended in a 1-0 loss at coach Ralph Hasenhuettl’s former side Ingolstadt, which had been bottom but climbed one place.

“Defeats always hurt, regardless against whom,” said Hasenhuettl, who led Ingolstadt to promotion in 2015.

Midfielder Roger’s early header was enough to end Leipzig’s eight-game winning run and give Ingolstadt its second win in four games under new coach Maik Walpurgis.

The game ended on a turbulent note when Emil Forsberg missed a great chance to equalize and players on both sides received yellow cards after a melee. Ingolstadt’s Mathew Leckie was sent off in injury time.

“A wonderful match day,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, whose rivals all dropped points. “Ingolstadt will get a truckload of white sausage and wheat-beer from us.”

In Munich, Thomas Mueller scored his first league goal since April as Bayern returned to the top with a comfortable win over crisis-hit Wolfsburg.

“Now we’re leaders and that will certainly do our Christmas party this evening good,” said Mueller, who had gone 999 minutes without scoring. “It’s nice the goal drought is now over. It wasn’t so important to me but I know others made a big deal of it.”

Arjen Robben opened the scoring with a curling effort inside the far post from a difficult angle in the 18th minute and Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead from close range three minutes later.

“It’s brutal, it’s depressing when it starts like that,” former Bayern striker Mario Gomez said of his return.

Lewandowski grabbed his second goal early in the second half when he deflect Mueller’s shot inside the left post.

Mueller, who scored 32 goals across all competitions for Bayern last season, then ended his goal drought by deflecting Robben’s effort past the helpless Diego Benaglio, and Douglas Costa completed the Wolfsburg goalkeeper’s miserable afternoon with a fine strike in the final minutes.

After 14 games, Bayern leads on goal difference from Leipzig. Only goal difference was separating Wolfsburg from the relegation zone.

Here’s a look at other games:

Cologne 1, Borussia Dortmund 1

Dortmund were headed for their fourth defeat of the season until Marco Reus struck in the final minute for his first league goal since returning from injury last month.

Artjoms Rudnevs was left alone to head Cologne in front before the half-hour mark from Jonas Hector’s free kick.

Dortmund dominated possession but failed going forward until the end. Adrian Ramos crossed for Reus to slot the equalizer inside the right post.

It was Reus’ first league goal since the 2-2 draw with Cologne in the final round last season.

Cologne midfielder Salih Ozcan was sent off with his second yellow card in injury time.

Dortmund dropped eight points behind Bayern and Leipzig, while Cologne stayed seventh after its ninth straight unbeaten game at home.

Hertha Berlin 0, Werder Bremen 1

Max Kruse’s strike before the break was enough for Bremen to beat third-place Hertha and climb four points above the relegation zone with its first away win of the season.

Hertha’s defense was at fault with Niklas Stark losing the ball for Kruse to grab his second goal in as many games.

“He’s young. That’s the time to make mistakes,” Hertha coach Pal Derdai said of his defender.

Led by veteran forward Claudio Pizarro, Bremen missed good chances to extend the lead.

Hertha had previously won all six games at home this season.

Hamburger SV 1, Augsburg 0

Hamburg forward Lewis Holtby left his side an uphill task before the break when he was sent off for elbowing Dominik Kohr in the face after he was fouled by the Augsburg midfielder.

But Kohr received his second yellow card midway through the second half and Filip Kostic scored two minutes later on a rebound after Nicolai Mueller’s effort hit the post.

It was enough for Hamburg to climb into the relegation playoff place, one point above Ingolstadt and two above Darmstadt, which lost 1-0 at Freiburg.

Nils Petersen’s late penalty was enough for Freiburg.

Borussia Moenchengladbach 1, Mainz 0

Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach ended its eight-game winless run in the Bundesliga with a labored 1-0 win over visiting Mainz on Sunday.

Danish defender Andreas Christensen’s late goal was enough for ‘Gladbach’s first win since the 2-0 victory over Ingolstadt on Sept. 24, though the side was fortunate not to concede an equalizer when Pablo de Blasis’ 89th-minute strike was ruled out.

“Altogether the win was a little lucky, though not undeserved. It wasn’t a good game, but a very broken one,” ‘Gladbach captain Lars Stindl said.

There were whistles from some home fans at the break after a first half in which Mainz had a penalty appeal with Tobias Strobl blocking Gaetan Bussmann’s header with his hand, and Karim Onisiwo had two good chances.

‘Gladbach’s players looked unsettled and short of confidence. Too many passes failed to find their intended target, too many touches failed to have the desired outcome.

Raffael might have opened the scoring after the break when facing just once defender but again the Brazilian was let down by his touch. Likewise Mahmoud Dahoud, Stindl and others appeared to be off their games.

It seemed the only way ‘Gladbach could manage to score was in a scramble or through a deflection and so it proved with a quarter-hour remaining when Christensen scooped the ball home after Stindl’s initial effort from a corner was blocked.

Mainz players were left fuming when De Blasis’ effort was ruled out, apparently because referee Robert Hartmann thought Yann Sommer’s hand was on the ball before the substitute prodded it in.

There was still time for Mainz midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin to be sent off with his second yellow card and for Dahoud to miss an easy chance to make it 2-0 in injury time.

“In the last home games we created many more clear goal chances and would have deserved the victory more. But that’s how it is sometimes in football,” said ‘Gladbach coach Andre Schubert, who had been coming under increased pressure.

Schalke 0, Bayer Leverkusen 1

Stefan Kiessling scored late to snatch a 1-0 win for Leverkusen at 10-man Schalke and climb eighth.

The veteran forward was left unmarked to head in Hakan Calhanoglu’s free kick beyond Ralf Faehrmann in the 89th minute.

The home side had an early blow when last defender Naldo was sent off in the fourth minute for bringing down Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez but regrouped to make it hard for Leverkusen’s speedy forwards.

Leverkusen was relying on set pieces from Calhanoglu, while Schalke tried to strike on counterattacks through Leon Goretzka, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt brought on 17-year-old Kai Havertz and fellow midfielder Vladlen Yurchenko in a bid to freshen things up at the break. Aleksandar Dragovic joined them with less than an hour played, when Konoplyanka almost opened the scoring as Schalke maintained its attacking threat.

Leverkusen finished strongly, Jonathan Tah having a goal ruled out for offside and Wendell shooting just over, before Kiessling had the final say with his first goal of the season.

It was the last game of the 14th round. Four-time defending champion Bayern Munich leads on goal difference from Leipzig, which suffered its first defeat Saturday at previously bottom Ingolstadt.