Treble winners Bayern Munich demolished Schalke 04 4-0 Saturday, to join Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table after they drew 1-1 at Nuremberg.
It was a case of brothers in arms before the kickoff as Bayern’s Jerome Boateng embraced his brother, Schalke forward Kevin-Prince, but there was no love lost once the match started.
Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, back in the starting lineup after an ankle injury, drilled in a well-timed header in the 21st minute and Mario Mandzukic did exactly the same a minute later to silence the 61,000 Schalke crowd.
Franck Ribery sealed their win with a clever flick off a David Alaba cutback in the 75th minute before substitute Claudio Pizarro completed yet another dominant performance by the Bavarians in the 84th, following their 3-0 midweek mauling of CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Bayern, extended the club’s record unbeaten run to 31 games,and are equal on 16 points with Dortmund, who hung on to top spot due to a better attack despite Nuremberg ending their five-game winning streak.
Dortmund’s perfect start to the season of five straight league wins came to an end as they drew 1-1 away to Nuremberg.
Despite several changes to the team that lost 2-1 at Napoli in the Champions League in midweek, Dortmund, who stay top of the Bundesliga table with 16 points, were initially the better side.
With top striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Nuri Sahin on the bench and defender Mats Hummels injured, coach Juergen Klopp brought in youngsters Marvin Duksch and Erik Durm.
Nuremberg’s Mike Frantz had a header which rebounded off the woodwork in the 20th minute but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a fierce free kick from Marcel Schmelzer.
Nuremberg, who have yet to win this season, grew bolder in the second half and secured an equaliser in the 51st minute with Per Nilsson’s close-range effort after Dortmund defenders failed to clear a free kick.
Dortmund pushed forward but failed to carve out a second despite some frantic attacking, and it was Nuremberg who almost grabbed an unexpected winner when Alexander Esswein raced clear but fired over the bar in stoppage time.
Dortmund almost had the final say but Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s header in the final minute of stoppage time was straight at the goalkeeper.
The result leaves Nuremberg in 15th place on four points.
Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third place on 15 points, shrugging off their own Champions League defeat to Manchester United, by demolishing Mainz 05 4-1 with two goals from Australian Robbie Kruse.
The visitors showed their credentials when Sidney Sam found Kruse who slid the ball past Mainz goalkeeper Heinz Muller in the 19th minute.
Leverkusen doubled their advantage when Lars Bender struck a long-range drive that deflected by Mainz’s Macedonian defender into the net in the 38th minute.
Kruse scored again on the stroke of halftime after a good move by Sam and Simon Rolfes.
Mainz’s Czech defender Zdenek Pospeck gifted the fourth goal as his poor headed clearance went straight to Rolfes who crossed for Stefan Kiessling to score with a diving header in the 59th minute.
Mainz got a consolation goal when Leverkusen failed to clear the danger and Yunus Malli struck the ball into the net in the 82nd minute.
Leverkusen are one point behind and Bayern Munich, while Mainz are seventh on nine points.