Bayern goes 5 clear, Pukki salvages Schalke draw

BERLIN (AP)—Mario Gomez and Franck Ribery scored in a labored 2-1 win for Bayern Munich over bottom side Augsburg in a Bavarian derby Sunday, moving their side five points clear in the Bundesliga.

Gomez scored his 13th goal of the season with a header from close range in the 15th minute, when the league’s leading scorer was well placed to meet Mohamed Amsif’s save from Daniel van Buyten’s header.

Ribery twisted inside Dominik Reinhardt before slotting past the helpless Amsif to make it 2-0 in the 28th.

Hajime Hosogai pulled one back in the 59th when Bayern failed to clear a corner, the ball falling kindly for the Japan midfielder to score from close range. David Alaba’s desperate lunge failed to stop the ball crossing the line.

“We tried everything, and with our fans behind us it almost worked out,” Augsburg midfielder Daniel Baier said.

Bayern missed Bastian Schweinsteiger, who broke his collarbone in Wednesday’s 3-2 Champions League win over Napoli, and only Manuel Neuer prevented Augsburg from equalizing in the 83rd, with a great reflex save from Edmond Kapllani who was through one-on-one.

“Basti is of course an incredibly important player for us, but it’s our job to compensate for this loss and David Alaba did his job well,” said Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos after his 100th Bundesliga appearance.

In a nervous finish for the league leader, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk received a straight red card for raising his foot in a tackle on Baier in injury time.

“My team gritted their teeth to the end to get a good result—it was a great performance,” said Augsburg coach Jos Luhukay.

Earlier, Finland striker Teemu Pukki scored twice in his first Bundesliga start to salvage a 2-2 draw for Schalke at Hannover.

Pukki opened the scoring in the 26th minute and tied the game in the 73rd, after an own goal from Kyriakos Papadopoulos in the 29th and Mohammed Abdellaoue’s header in the 59th had given Hannover the lead.

“Schalke were the better team in the end, with two good chances,” said Hannover coach Mirko Slomka. “It’s not good that we’re conceding so many chances. That didn’t please me at all.”

Schalke missed the chance to go second and dropped to fifth, three points ahead of Hannover.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar failed to recover from a broken nose sustained in the Europa League on Thursday, giving Pukki his opportunity in the Dutchman’s place.

“I really wanted to show what I can do. I’m really happy,” Pukki said.

The 21-year-old outpaced Karim Haggui for Christian Fuchs’ ball forward for his first Bundesliga goal, taking it past the outrushing Ron-Robert Zieler with his first touch and slotting into the empty net.

Hannover equalized three minutes later when Papadopoulos’ attempted clearance of Lars Pander’s free kick ended in his own net.

Abdellaoue was denied a penalty before the interval, when he went down under Papadopoulos’ challenge.

Pukki’s shot whizzed by the post in the 57th, moments before Didier Ya Konan went just as close at the other end.

Abdellaoue scored two minutes later, when Jan Schlaudraff crossed brilliantly with the outside of his foot for the Norway striker to head in his eighth goal of the season.

Pukki scored his second from a narrow angle after a great run from Jefferson Farfan, beating Zieler with a powerful shot across goal.

“In the end we had so many chances to score the winner, but it’s still a good result against Hannover,” Pukki said. “We believe we can (reach the Champions League). We can go far this season.