Bayern on top

Seven unanswered goals by Bayern Munich's attacking superstars - Ivica Olic, Arjen Robben, and Thomas Mueller - dismantled a hapless Hanover on Saturday evening, giving Munich the lead in the Bundesliga table.

Olic opened the scoring with a header from a Diego Contento cross in the 16th minute, before Robben doubled their score with a wonderful lob over Hanover goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz.

Mueller increased the lead to three a minute before the break when he converted a Robben cross.

Four minutes into the second half, the Croatian Olic headed home his second goal from close range.

A minute later, Robben notched his second, while Mueller made it six for the home side in the 62nd minute when he drove home an Olic cross.

Robben rounded off the scoring by picking up his hat trick in injury time, which was more than enough for the win and the Bundesliga lead.

Schalke two points back

Earlier on Saturday, Schalke took down Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 thanks to two goals from Ivan Rakitic.

The win broke a two-match losing streak for Schalke, who have 61 points, two behind Bayern.

Rakitic gave Schalke an early lead with a thundering strike from 25 meters in the eighth minute.

Raul Bobadilla evened the score eight minutes later for visitors Gladbach when he beat two defenders in the air, raced clear and got the better of keeper Manuel Neuer for an empty net goal.

Schalke re-took the lead in the dying seconds of the first half with a goal from Jefferson Farfan, and Rakitic notched his second at the beginning of the second half to put the match away.

Bremen win, Leverkusen fall

Also on Saturday, Bremen moved to third in the table with a 4-2 win over Wolfsburg and are now in contention for a place in next season's Champions League.

Leverkusen, gave away a 1-0 goal lead against Stuttgart and lost 2-1.

Hamburg slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home against Mainz and are now in danger of failing to qualify for a place in the Europa League next season.

Freiburg, who are fighting against relegation, kept alive hopes of escaping the drop with a 2-1 victory against Nuremberg.

glb/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Andreas Illmer