Five-goal Bayern up to fourth, Wolfsburg crash again

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany team-mates Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez both scored as Bayern Munich moved up to fourth in the Bundesliga after a 5-1 win at Borussia Dortmond on Saturday. Having defeated Wolfsburg 3-0 in their previous outing, Bayern hit back from conceding an early goal as Gomez bagged a first-half equaliser before Schweinsteiger put his side ahead with a well-taken solo effort. French midfielder Franck Ribery then slotted home a free-kick before teenager Thomas Mueller, who celebrates his 20th birthday on Sunday, netted twice in the final 20 minutes to fire Bayern up the table. The victory gives Dutch coach Louis van Gaal his second league win having taken over in July and makes up for Bayern's disastrous start to the season when they dropped down to 16th in the table. "We began badly, but I explained to the team at half-time that we were hanging back too much," said van Gaal. "In the second half, the team's individual quality made the difference. I am pleased we scored such good goals after a heavy week of lots of international football." Defending champions Wolfsburg are facing something of a crisis after they were beaten 3-2 by league leaders Bayer Leverkusen having had goalkeeper Diego Benaglio sent-off. With Hamburg playing Stuttgart later Saturday, Leverkusen now have a three-point gap at the top of the table. This was Wolfsburg's third consecutive defeat after falling to Hamburg and Bayern in the last two rounds and drops them down to tenth place. Benaglio was shown a straight red for fouling Leverkusen's Eren Derdiyok just outside of the area on 32 minutes, but the Swiss striker was later shown a second yellow to earn himself a red card on 53 minutes. "Up to the sending off, we had the opposition well under control," said Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh. "The red card was crucial to the game, the referee may never make such a decision like that again. Despite the defeat, the team did not play badly and I am happy with what I have seen." Benaglio's dismissal led to Germany midfielder Simon Rolfes hitting Leverkusen's first goal on 38 minutes before converting a 52nd minute penalty. His national team-mate Stefan Kiessling hit the third, before Wolfsburg fought back with play-maker Zvjezdan Misimovic scoring with a direct free-kick on 76 minutes before Grafite slotted a late penalty but it was too little, too late.Eintracht Frankfurt are up to third thanks to their 2-0 win over Freiburg. Hoffenheim, the surprise package of last season, are up to fifth after their 3-0 win at home to Bochum, while Mainz are up to sixth after shocking Hertha Berlin 2-1 at home. Mainz shocked Bayern ealier in the season and their Burkino Faso striker Aristide Bance, who scored in the 2-1 win over Munich, hit the winner in the 85th minute. Werder Bremen take on Hanover on Sunday when Cologne host Schalke.

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