Bundesliga: Dortmund drop points, Bayern crush Schalke

League leaders Borussia Dortmund squandered their lead in the standings with a draw at Nuremberg while Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-0 win over Schalke in the German Bundesliga.

Nuremberg stopped Dortmund's winning streak at the sixth round Saturday, as Marcel Schmelzer's stunning free kick goal wasn't enough to snatch three points, reports Xinhua.

Juergen Klopp's men controlled the opening period yet they were lucky not to fall behind with 19 minutes into the encounter as Mike Frantz's header only rattled the crossbar, thanks to a fingertip save by goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

However, Schmelzer's stunning 21-metre free kick goal into the top right corner broke the deadlock for Dortmund in the 37th minute.

It was a short-lived joy for the front-runners as Nuremberg restored parity through Per Nilsson in the 51st minute. Dortmund pressed frantically for the winner but a resilient Nuremberg kept them at bay.

Bayern Munich capitalised on Dortmund's draw by crushing Schalke 4-0.

Schalke started brightly and made Bayern's life difficult. Nevertheless, it were the Bavarians that opened the scoring against the run of play when Arjen Robben's corner found Bastian Schweinsteiger's head inside the box in the 21st minute.

Only a minute later Bayern gave Schalke a second blow as Mario Mandzukic nodded home David Alaba's cross.

Franck Ribery and Claudio Pizzaro rounded off Bayern's 4-0 triumph against hapless Schalke.