Xabi Alonso: Bayer Leverkusen ousted Bayern Munich from the top of the Bundesliga after Olivie Deman's own goal paved the way for a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen in the 12th round.
The Werkself took the reins from the starting whistle and thought they had opened the scoring with six minutes played but for all that Viktor Boniface's goal was ruled offside in the sixth minute, reports Xinhua.
The deadlock was broken three minutes later though as Deman deflected a corner into the wrong goal to give Leverkusen the 1-0 lead.
Leverkusen remained offensively minded and almost made it two in the 17th minute but Boniface pulled wide from nine meters.
The visitors eventually doubled their advantage before the break as Bremen couldn't clear the ball from the area, allowing Jeremie Frimpong to hammer home into the top left corner in the 43rd minute.
Werder Bremen sparked to life after the restart but got an offside goal by Marvin Ducksch disallowed at the hour mark.
The Green-Whites couldn't do any damage as the game progressed whereas Leverkusen put the result beyond doubt after Amine Adli sent a pass to Alejandro Grimaldo, who finished the job with his left foot in the 76th minute.
With the result, Leverkusen remain atop the table while Bremen stay in the 12th position.
"We did well today. We had a lot of control in the first half. Bremen applied more pressure in the second half but in the end we deserved the win," said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.
In the other matches, Borussia Dortmund bounced back from two goals down to upset Borussia Monchengladbach 4-2. Union Berlin ended its losing streak after sharing the spoils with Augsburg following a 1-1. Wolfsburg returned to winning ways and overpowered Leipzig 2-1. Freiburg played out a 1-1 stalemate with newly promoted Darmstadt and Stuttgart edged Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 to cement third position.