Bayern have clear daylight at the top of the Bundesliga after week 16 as the top Borussia sides tripped up in unexpected places.

AUGSBURG 1 BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH 0

When the absence of Marco Reus sends the high flying side that you appear to be forming crashing to a disappointing defeat to the side sat bottom of the Bundesliga, your title challenge seems to be about as legitimate as Newcastle United’s!

Borussia may have dominated possession wise in this one but at no time did they look more likely to score than the hosts and were made to pay by them early in the second half when Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker drilled home a shot from outside the area, taking Augsburg off of the bottom in the process.

If Mӧnchengladbach are this toothless for the entire time Reus is missing with a broken toe, they will need a new striker desperately. Considering that all they could afford pre-season was Joshua King, on-loan from Manchester United, they will be struggling soon.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1 KAISERSLAUTERN 1

Mind you, Borussia Dortmund did not fare much better as they were held at home by another early relegation candidate, Kaiserslautern.

It appeared that they might be suffering a Champions/Europa League exit double hangover in a disappointing first-half. However, they still would have been relatively positive of coming away with three points thanks to Shinji Kagawa giving them the lead allied to Kaiserslautern being simply awful at finding the net. They managed it however, with a goal on the hour mark that sucked the life out of around 80,000 people in the Westfalenstadion.

That pumped Dortmund into life, but by desperate blocks, a large slice of luck and a little help from the post, which kept out a Mats Hummel header, Kaiserslautern held on for a point.

STUTTGART 1 BAYERN MUNICH 2

So, the others had presented Bayern Munich with an open goal of an opportunity to go three clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

Christian Gentner was the first man to put the ball in the goal though and he plays for Stuttgart! His sixth minute opener sent the home crowd delirious. Not for long though as Mario Gomez equalised before Stuttgart had even held the lead for ten minutes. Normal service seemed to have well and truly resumed as Christian Molinaro found himself in the book twice and off the pitch before the half-hour.

From that moment on, Stuttgart allowed the game to basically become attack vs. defence as they prepared to attempt to avoid conceding for the remaining hour. It seemed to be working too as despite having almost 75 percent possession, Sven Ulreich was hardly tested for long periods. Mario Gomez does not have 14 league goals this year for no reason though and he was able to grab number 15 to secure the points and top spot, of both the Bundesliga and the scoring charts.

HERTHA BERLIN 1 SCHALKE 2

Schalke had their own little 48 hour period with the joint lead of the division as they threw their own hat well and truly into the ring as genuine title contenders by going to the Olympiastadion on Friday night and exiting with three hard won points.

Hertha dominated the game from start to finish, having over 60 percent possession and winning the corner count 11-3, but good (albeit sometimes desperate) defending meant that after Adrian Ramos had cancelled out Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar’s opener, the hosts were unable to capitalse and Teemu Pukki’s scrappy goal that regained the lead for Schalke was the only further goal.

KOLN 4 FREIBURG 0

Augsburg moving off the bottom meant somebody else must have replaced them at the foot of the table and that side is Freiburg. They were dreadful in this one as last week’s last minute leveller by Lukas Podolski catapulted Kӧln into form. Christian Clemens finished off a typically lethal counter-attack to give them a half-time lead and as Freiburg pushed to get back into the game, they played straight into the Billygoats hands as Clemens grabbed another and Podolski grabbed two of his own.

WERDER BREMEN 4 WOLFSBURG 1

It was always going to be almost impossible for the struggling Wolves to cope with the lift that the return of Claudio Pizarro would give to Werder Bremen. Following their 4-1 reversal to Bayern Munich last week it was a much needed lift too. Pizarro got the second on the stroke of half-time to kill any kind of comeback, adding to Sokratis opener. Markus Rosenburg and Marko Arnautovic completed the rout with 20 minutes still left, keeping them on the fringes of the title race. The goal Marcel Schafer grabbed at the end will at least improve Wolfsburg’s goal difference.

NURNBURG 0 HOFFENHEIM 2

This win for Hoffenheim moves them back into the top half, despite looking like having a poor start during the first half of the season. Vedad Ibisevic had given them the lead in the first half before Timmy Chandler helped them out by needlessly getting himself sent off. Marvin Compper evened up the numbers in second half stoppage time but, by that time, Ibisevic had put the game to bed with his second a long time ago.

HANNOVER 0 BAYER LEVERKUSEN 0

This game seemed to epitomise everything about these two teams seasons. Dull, drab, midtable nothingness with minds on European matters. Bayer Leverkusen having secured a place in the Champions League knockout stages and Hannover as good as through in the Europa version.

MAINZ 0 HAMBURG 0

On the other hand, this draw is a decent point for both sides. For Hamburg, it continues their long unbeaten run that has dragged them away from the drop zone at a place where Bayern have lost. Meanwhile, for Mainz it is a decent result against a side that are starting to play like the side that deserves to be considered for a top four spot that I pegged them for in pre-season