体坛英语新闻：Bayern, Wolfsburg cement their top positions in German Bundesliga

BERLIN, Dec. 06 (Xinhua) -- Front-runners Bayern Munich beat Leverkusen 1-0 to maintain their seven-point lead meanwhile runners-up Wolfsburg clinched a 3-1 victory over Hannover at the 14th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern Munich reaped their 11th triumph from 14 games as they defeated Leverkusen with a narrow 1-0 win on home soil.

It was a hard earned victory for the German giants as Leverkusen posed a lot of threat yet the visitors failed to turn promising opportunities into a tangible reward.

Leverkusen' s Karim Bellarabi almost capitalized on a gone wrong clearance by Jerome Boateng, which allowed Bellarabi beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. However, Juan Bernat scratched off Bellarabi' s shot on target from the goal line to deny the opener.

The "Werkself" had another promising opportunity through Stefan Kiessling, who was unable to connect Heung Ming Son' s shot on target from sharp angle.

The "Bavarians" took the reins at the second half and increased the pressure before Franck Ribery broke the deadlock at the 51st minute to score his 100th goal for Bayern Munich. Xabi Alonso flicked on Rafinha' s cross so that Ribery was able to tap in from very close range.

It remained the only goal of the encounter as Leverkusen lacked in offensive power to threat Bayern' s defense at the second half. With the result Bayern remain atop the standings with a seven-point lead meanwhile Leverkusen slipped from the 3rd to the 4th position.

Wolfsburg secured their second place in the standings following a 3-1 victory over Hannover at the Lower Saxony derby.

The "Wolves" wasted no time to open the scoring as Ivan Perisic' s through ball found Kevin De Bruyne, who slotted home the first chance at the 4th minute.

The hosts were shocked by the deficit but they responded just before the break through Joselu, whose diving header restored the parity.

After the restart both sides neutralized their actions hence offensive actions remained a rare occurrence in the second half. Things changed with the fielding of Wolfsburg' s substitute Bas Dost, who secured his side the 2-1 lead two minutes after his substitution at the 67th minute.

Wolfsburg had another ace in the hole as Maximilian Arnold came off the bench at the 82nd minute to seal the deal three minutes later by making use of a through ball by Ivan Perisic.

The "Wolves" consolidate their second place with 29 points while Hannover remain on the 8th position.

Schalke wrapped up their first away win under Robert Di Matteo as three first-half goals took the wind out of Stuttgart' s sails.

Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting ensured a bright start for the visitors when he broke the deadlock with just 53 second into the game. The Cameroon international made use of Tranquillo Barnetta' s free kick into the box to slot home right footed from seven meters.

Schalke gave relegation threatened Stuttgart no time to recover from the early setback as Max Meyer headed home the 2-0 lead, thanks to the assistance by Choupo-Moting nine minutes later.

Stuttgart were unable to gain a foothold into the game meanwhile Schalke tripled the lead by courtesy of Choupo-Moting who wrapped up his brace by heading home Barnetta' s corner kick in the 21st minute.

The third goal within 21 minutes killed the game ahead of time although Schalke' s Choupo-Moting was not done with the scoring, as he sealed his hat-trick by a header at the 61st minute.

With the result Schalke record their 7th win of the season to climb on the 5th place while Stuttgart slumped to the last position of the table.

Elsewhere, Augsburg turned the tides against newly promoted Cologne with two second-half goals to win 2-1 on the road.

Monchengladbach stopped their negative run of three winless games in row as they overcame Berlin 3-2 on home soil and newly promoted Paderborn capitalized on a moment of madness by Freiburg goalkeeper Roman Buerki to snatch a 1-1 draw in the dying minutes of the game.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Sunday: Hamburg face Mainz and Frankfurt host Bremen.