Bundesliga: Schalke upsets Leverkusen as Bayern crushes Freiburg

BERLIN - Jan Klaas Huntelaar headed home in the 74th minute to spur Schalke 04 to a 2-1 victory over second-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday (Sunday, PHL time), allowing Bayern Munich to extend their Bundesliga lead to 16 points.

The Netherlands striker had his back to the goal but outleapt his marker to score a glancing header off a 40-meter Jefferson Farfan free kick just five minutes after Leverkusen had equalized with a Felipe Santana own goal.

"I always had the feeling we'd get our chance and when we did we took advantage of it," said Huntelaar. "It tastes good to get the three points here at Leverkusen."

Schalke, in fourth place with 40 points, had deservedly taken a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute when Leon Goretzka took advantage of a Leverkusen blunder. Schalke hosts Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time).

Earlier on Saturday, Bayern Munich crushed Freiburg 4-0, recording their 13th successive Bundesliga victory and extending their league unbeaten streak to 46.

It was perfect preparation for Wednesday's (Thursday, PHL time) Champions League knockout round clash at Arsenal with Bayern coach Pep Guardiola taking the opportunity to rest four key players: Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Thiago and Mario Goetze.

Bayern's reserves took full advantage of their chances in a furious first half with Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice off deflected shots after defender Dante put Munich ahead in the 19th minute with a glancing header.

Bayern, in fine form after thumping Hamburg SV 5-0 in a German Cup quarterfinal match on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) and beating Nuremberg 2-0 last Saturday, shifted down a gear in the second half but still controlled the match.

Claudio Pizarro gave the 71,000 fans in the Allianz Arena a final chance to cheer, scoring after a fine solo run from the left in the 88th minute.

"Now we've got Arsenal ahead of us and we'll need to have our best possible performance to win," said Guardiola. "We'll have to play at a very high level to advance."

Third-placed Borussia Dortmund, with 42 points, downed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0.

Hamburg SV's woes continued with an eighth successive defeat, 4-2 to Braunschweig.

Hamburg, the only Bundesliga club never to be relegated, fell deeper into the relegation zone in a blunder-filled performance against last-placed Braunschweig, which later led to coach Bert van Marwijk being sacked.

Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler had an especially dreadful afternoon, with two second-half errors that led to goals. Domi Kumbela came off the bench to score three second half goals for Braunschweig

"We felt obliged to take this decision now although at the same time we regret it," Hamburg sporting director Oliver Kreuzer said on Hamburg's website (www.hsv.de).

"We thank Bert van Marwijk for his work," he added.

Former Netherlands coach Van Marwijk was at Hamburg for 143 days after taking over from Thorsten Fink in September, with a deal until 2015, when HSV were already struggling in 16th place.

Hamburg is the only Bundesliga side to have played in the top flight since the league was established but they are in danger of losing that status.

They are in 17th place with 16 points from 21 matches and currently two points away from the safety zone.

Former Hanover coach Mirko Slomka is a candidate to replace van Marwijk, according to German media reports. - Reuters