Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund keep pressure on Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen move up to third

Werder Bremen claim a valuable win to help in their bid to avoid relegation

Wolfsburg's Xaver Schlager vies for the ball with Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland. EPA

Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro celebrates scoring their first goal. Reuters

Raphael Guerreiro celebrates scoring Dortmund's first goal. Reuters

Dortmund and Wolfsburg players observe a minute's silence in homage to the victims of Covid-19 pandemic. AFP

Bayer Leverkusen's Sven Bender and Kerem Demirbay in action with Borussia Moenchengladbach's Jonas Hofmann. Reuters

Moenchengladbach's and Leverkusen's players leave the pitch at half time. AP

Leverkusen midfielder Charles Mariano Aranguiz, left, and Moenchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus vie for the ball. AP

Marcus Thuram of Borussia Moenchengladbach is challenged by Kerem Demirbay of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Getty Images

Leverkusen's Kai Havertz, 3rd left, celebrates with teammates scoring. AP

Freiburg midfielder Janik Haberer (C) and Bremen defender Kevin Vogt and midfielder Maximilian Eggestein vie for the ball. EPA

Freiburg defender Manuel Gulde (R) and Bremen forward Joshua Sargent vie for the ball. EPA

General view inside the stadium during the match between Freiburg and Bremen. Reuters

Players observe a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, prior to the match between Freiburg and Werder Bremen. AP

Dennis Srbeny (C) of SC Paderborn celebrates with teammates after scoring against Hoffenheim. EPA

Substitute players of Hoffenheim wear protective masks and watch the match from the stands. EPA

Paderborn midfielder Sebastian Vasiliadis (C) vies with Hoffenheim midfielder Sebastian Rudy (L) and defender Stefan Posch. AFP

Borussia Dortmund maintained pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich by securing a 2-0 win at Wolfsburg to make it two wins in as many matches since the German league resumed.

Raphael Guerreiro broke the deadlock on 32 minutes, before Achraf Hakimi doubled the visitors' lead with 12 minutes of the game remaining. Any hopes Wolfsburg had of an unlikely late fightback were dealt a hammer blow when Felix Klaus was given a straight red in the 82nd minute for stepping on Manuel Akanji's calf.

The win moves Dortmund to within one point of Bayern, who can restore their four-point lead with victory against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Allianz Arena in Saturday's late kick-off.

Bayer Leverkusen moved into the Champions League places with an impressive 3-1 win at top four rivals Borussia Monchengladbach.

Kai Havertz continued his fine form since the restart with another two goals, following his brace against Werder Bremen last week.

Marcus Thuram pulled Gladbach level just after half-time, before Havertz struck his second. Sven Bender then gave Leverkusen some breathing space in the 81st minute.

The result moves Leverkusen up to third, while Gladbach slip one place to fourth and they can drop out of the top four if RB Leipzig get a result at Mainz on Sunday.

Werder Bremen collected a valuable away win, defeating Freiburg 1-0 to help in their bid to avoid relegation, while Paderborn and Hoffenheim played out a 1-1 draw.