Wolves floor Freiburg to extend unbeaten run

VfL Wolfsburg extended their unbeaten run to eight matches with a 3-0 win at strugglers Freiburg on Sunday to climb up to fifth in the Bundesliga table. Wolves raced into a 2-0 lead after only 11 minutes as Germany Under-21 forward Maximilian Arnold netted with a deft touch before ex-Bayern Munich star Luiz Gustavo laid the ball off for Croatia's Ivica Olic to blast home. Freiburg squandered a couple of clear chances before Wolfsburg's Germany defender Marcel Schafer came off the bench for Olic to score their third in added time. Freiburg remain third from bottom with a third straight defeat and to make matters worse they had French midfielder Francis Coquelin, on loan from Arsenal, carried off with a suspected broken ankle just after the break. Hertha Berlin stayed seventh and kept hosts Eintracht Braunschweig rooted to the bottom of the table with a 2-0 away win. Colombia striker Adrian Ramos headed Berlin into a first-half lead before 20-year-old midfielder Tolga Cigerci added a late second with his first for the club. On Saturday, France star Franck Ribery produced a commanding display as Bayern Munich extended their record unbeaten Bundesliga run to 40 matches with a 7-0 away romp at Werder Bremen. Ribery boosted his claim for the 2013 world footballer of the year award, which will be announced on January 13, by creating two goals and scoring twice in the rout. Bayern, who last lost in the German league in October 2012, produced their biggest win so far under Pep Guardiola, cutting Bremen's defence to tatters. The victory was short of the Bundesliga's 57-year-old record of 9-0 for an away win and was Werder's heaviest home league defeat. Bremen coach Robin Dutt kept the team on the pitch for a stern lecture as they dropped to 14th after just two wins in their last 10 games. Belgium's Daniel van Buyten, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic plus Germany's Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze also joined Ribery on the scoresheet after Bremen scored an own goal. Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen stayed four points behind Bayern with a hard-fought 1-0 win at third-placed Borussia Dortmund, who now find themselves six points behind Leverusen and ten points behind Munich. South Korea striker Son Heung-Min hit the 18th-minute winner after Leverkusen's attack pounced on a mistake by Dortmund defender Manuel Friedrich for Son to score his fifth goal in his last three games against Borussia. Both sides finished with 10 men in a tense affair. Dortmund lost both defensive midfielders Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin during the match with ankle injuries. Germany's Bender has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League game at Marseille with a sprained ankle, while Sahin has a torn ligament and is rated extremely doubtful. "Miracles happen repeatedly, but it does not look good," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp. Fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach drew level on 31 points with Dortmund as they picked up their sixth-straight win with a 2-1 win at home to ten-man Schalke 04. Schalke must beat Swiss champions FC Basel on Wednesday to reach the Champions League's knock-out phase and another defeat could be coach Jens Keller's last having only been in charge since December last year. Eintracht Frankfurt stayed just above the relegation places after losing 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim while Hamburg, who had been steadily climbing the table under ex-Holland manager Bert van Marwijk, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Augsburg. Stuttgart are up to 10th after picking up only their third win in the last 10 games with a 4-2 win at home to Hanover 96. Source: AFP