Bayern march on, Schalke struggle in Bundesliga

Thomas Mueller scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrashed Frankfurt 4-0 while Freiburg reaped their second successive win as they upset Schalke 2-0 in the 11th round of the German Bundesliga.

Front-runners Bayern continued their dominant run in the league as they crushed Frankfurt thanks to three goals by Mueller Saturday night, reports Xinhua.

The "Eagles" staged a courageous performance on home soil in the first half, however, things changed in the second half as Bayern dominated.

The hosts staged a well-positioned defence and gave the German giants a hard time. Bayern had to wait until the 23rd minute before Mueller broke the deadlock. Franck Ribery played a one-two with Robert Lewandowski to set up for Mueller who poked home with a follow up shot from close range.

Bayern dominated the game but Frankfurt were able to keep the Bavarians on leash until the 64th minute. Ribery was again in the thick of things with a well-timed square pass for Mueller, who tapped in his brace into the bottom right.

The visitors utilised their momentum as Mueller wrapped up his hat-trick only three minutes later when he scored with a long-range shot into the far post corner.

In the closing period, Frankfurt were unable to keep their opponents at bay, as a consequence Bayern added another goal to their lead through substitute Xherdan Shaqiri, who rounded off the 4-0 win.

With the victory Bayern extend their advantage at the top to seven points atop the standing while Frankfurt stay in 12th place.

Schalke continued their stuttering performance in the Bundesliga as they went down 0-2 to Freiburg for their fifth loss of the season.

The "Royal Blues" staged a harmless offence although they controlled the proceedings on the pitch. However, Freiburg stunned the visitors in the 22nd minute when Christian Guenter slotted home the opener against the run of play.

Schalke pressed for the equaliser but remained harmless. Meanwhile Freiburg staged a bulwark to lurk on counter attacks. Freiburg's wait-and-see strategy paid off in the second half as Jonathan Schmid doubled the advantage in the 68th minute.

With the fifth loss of the season Schalke slump to 11th position while Freiburg climb to 13th place.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen were held to a goalless draw by Mainz. Leverkusen dominated the match but failed to overcome Mainz defence or goalkeeper Loris Karius.