Berlin, Jan 31 (DPA) Goals from Daniel van Buyten, Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben sent Bayern Munich back to the top of the Bundesliga.
Van Buyten rose to head in an Arjen Robben cross in the 58th minute, Gomez was on target in the 75th and Robben curled in a free-kick four minutes from time to give Bayern a 3-0 win over Mainz here Saturday.

Louis van Gaal’s side moves to 42 points, one ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04 who defeated Hoffenheim 2-0 with goals in each half from Kevin Kuranyi and Lukas Schmitz.

Unbeaten Leverkusen are at home to Freiburg Sunday.

Bayern enjoyed an ultimately comfortable victory over defensive Mainz but it took a long time for them to turn their superiority into goals on a pitch which became heavier as snow began to fall.

Keeper Joerg Butt missed a first-half penalty when his Mainz counterpart Heinz Mueller got his legs to a poorly-placed shot, and both Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger saw efforts against the post and bar.

However Belgian defender van Buyten’s opener, which slipped through Mueller’s grasp, took the pressure off, and Gomez finished off a move involving substitute Franck Ribery, Robben and Philipp Lahm, before Robben wrapped things up.

“The weather wasn’t good and it was difficult to play football,” Robben said.

“We scored the goal and afterwards it became a bit easier. We had a lot of chances in the first half, and we said at half-time we have to be calm and the chances would come, but it wasn’t easy.”

Van Gaal said: “We created a lot of chances and kept the pressure on their keeper. I thought we were very good in possession against a totally defensive team. I’m very satisfied, because I’ve seen some good goals scored by a very good Bayern team.”

Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel said: “If this Bayern team plays to its potential at home, and if they’re on good form, it’s questionable whether we’d ever come away with anything, even if we rise above ourselves.

“We didn’t rise above ourselves today, so at the end of the day, we basically never had a chance, and we have to accept that. Without a trace of envy or regret, we can say we’ve deservedly lost to a class team.”

Werder Bremen went down 4-3 at Borussia Moenchengladbach after a catastrophic start - conceding three goals in the first 18 minutes - for a fifth straight defeat.

Poor defending allowed Borussia to sweep into a 3-0 lead when Marco Reus (4) and Roberto Colautti (13) scored from close range and Argentinian Raul Bobadillo - who had set up both goals - netted.

Mesut Ozil pulled one back for Bremen in the 26th minute but Bobadillo was again on target nine minutes later, turning the ball into an empty goal after keeper Tim Wiese came out of his area but failed to clear.

Claudio Pizarro then headed in from an Aaron Hunt cross five minutes before the break and Torsten Frings smashed in an 85th penalty as Bremen rallied in vain for a late equalizer.

“It was a catastrophic defensive performance which makes it very difficult to win a game,” Werder sports director Klaus Allofs told Sky Sport television.

“I don’t want to talk just about the back four but the whole team. We are not doing the things we are doing in training and which have made us strong. We are as a team too poor defensively.”

Swiss striker Albert Bunjaku scored a hat-trick as visiting Nuremberg enjoyed a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Hanover who have now lost five games in a row.

Cologne picked up a second successive away win with a 2-1 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt to move further away from relegation danger, while bottom side Hertha Berlin and visiting Bochum were goalless.

Fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund will be hoping to stay in touch with the leading three when they travel to VfB Stuttgart here Sunday.