体坛英语新闻：Bayern Munich extend lead in German Bundesliga standing

BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich shake off pursuers with a 2-0 win over Leverkusen meanwhile Monchengladbach shocked Dortmund twice this season at the 25th round of the German Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern pursuers drop points as Dortmund and Leverkusen suffer defeats in the hunt of the front-runners. The "Bavarians" reaped the 17th straight win continuing their march to their next Bundesliga title as Pep Guardiola's team edged Leverkusen 2-1 on home soil.

Leverkusen staged a courageous performance at the opening period, as Bayern were unable to overcome the visitor's well-positioned defence. Heung Min Son had the best chance for Leverkusen when he pulled just wide of the left post with just goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to beat at the 11th minute. Bayern custodian Neuer denied Simon Rolfes' long-range effort at the 29th minute.

The chances by the visitors were a wakening call for the hosts as Bayern recaptured possession to let the ball do the work. As a consequence Mario Mandzukic broke the deadlock by courtesy of a cross into the box by Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Seven minutes into the second half Schweinsteiger got his name on the score sheets when he curled a dead ball over the wall into the top left corner to double the lead.

Leverkusen were focused on damage limitation but nonetheless they were able to reduce the lead in the dying minutes of the game through Stefan Kiessling.

Bayern sit atop the standings with 71 points whereas Leverkusen slipped from 3rd to 4th position with 44 points.

The "Foals" grabbed their first win of 2014 as they upset second-placed Dortmund 2-1 on the road by courtesy of Max Kruse's winner. The "BVB" stay on second place with 48 points while Monchengladbach climbed from 8th to 7th place with 39 points.

The "Foals" caught the better start as Patrick Herrmann created two goal-scoring opportunities in the opening period. As the match progressed Dortmund took over to press the visitors into defence. Mats Hummels and Nuri Sahin approached Monchengladbach's goal area before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rattled the woodwork from 14 meters.

Despite the better chances it were the visitors that opened the scoring against the run of the game as Raffael tapped in at the near post following Patrick Herrmann's cross into the box at the half hour mark.

To make things worse for the home side, Monchengladbach doubled the lead nine minutes later through Max Kruse, who wrongfooted custodian Roman Weidenfeller and Lukasz Piszczek to slot home from eight meters.

After the restart Havard Nordtveit jeopardised Monchengladbach's away win when he was sent off for his second bookable offence at the 69th minute. Dortmund pressed frenetically but was only able to reduce the arrears at the 77th minute thanks to Milos Jojic.

Mainz flabbergasted Hoffenheim with a 4-2-comeback win to snatch three points in the hunt of a berth in Europe.

Both sides were unable to score a goal at the first half, all the more they scored in the second. Hoffenheim broke the deadlock through Eugen Polanski before Roberto Firmino added the second goal to their lead at the 52nd minute.

Mainz woke up at the 67th minute when Eric Maxim Choupo Moting pulled one back. It took just another six minutes and Mainz restored parity as joker Benedikt Saller made it 2-2.

The visitors were not done with the scoring as Shinji Okazaki unleashed a brace to round off the 4-2 win on the road.

Elsewhere, bottom side Braunschweig craved out a vital point in their relegation battle when they held Wolfsburg to a 1-1.

Hannover wrapped up their second away win this season as they overcame Berlin 3-0 whilst Bremen and Stuttgart share the spoils following a 1-1 as Aaron Hunt neutralized Georg Niedermeier's opener.

The following matches are scheduled for Sunday: relegation threatened Hamburg face Nuremberg and Frankfurt see bottom side bottom side Freiburg.