Staff Reporter.
Bayern Munich moved one victory away from winning back the Bundesliga title as they beat Mainz 3-0 at home on Saturday in the Bundesliga.
Leroy Sane slotted into the bottom corner from close range to put Vincent Kompany’s side in front.
Michael Olise jinked inside and fired a low finish past Robin Zenter in the Mainz goal as Bayern increased their lead before the break.
England international Eric Dier rounded off the victory in the closing stages, heading in Olise’s corner.
Bayern would have won the league on Saturday if last season’s champions Bayer Leverkusen had dropped points.
However, Xabi Alonso’s side won 2-0 against Augsburg as the eight-point gap between the two sides remained intact.
Prior to Leverkusen’s unexpected success last term, Bayern had won 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles.
Mainz had a chance to reduce their deficit at Allianz Arena when Nadiem Amiri attempted to curl an effort into the top corner, but Jonas Urbig dived to his right to beat it away.
The victory margin could also have been greater. Bayern’s Sane bent a strike wide of the far post before sending a delicate chip over the advancing Zentner and against the post, as the home side dominated.
Thomas Muller came on with six minutes remaining to make his 500th Bundesliga appearance, with the Bayern legend departing the club in the summer.
Regardless of Leverkusen’s result next weekend, victory for Bayern away at RB Leipzig (Saturday, 14:30 BST) would seal their 33rd Bundesliga title.
Elsewhere, Waldemar Anton scored in stoppage time to snatch a 3-2 win for Borussia Dortmund at Hoffenheim, boosting their top four hopes.
Dortmund emerged victorious at the end of a match in which they led twice but kept letting their opponents back in.
Serhou Guirassy put the visitors in front after 20 minutes but missed a penalty later in the half.
Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek struck back after 61 minutes. Julian Brandt put Dortmund back in front with a beautiful volley on the 74th-minute mark but Hoffenheim equalised again through Pavel Kaderabek in the final minute.
Anton’s strike in the fifth minute of injury time moved Dortmund up to sixth, three points off fourth spot.
Freiburg won 1-0 at a 10-man Wolfsburg to climb past RB Leipzig into fourth, with Max Rosenfelder scoring the only goal of the match just after halftime.
Leipzig can return to fourth spot with a win when they play at Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday.
Holstein Kiel kept their slim hopes of beating the drop alive with a 4-3 win at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach, with Japan forward Shuto Machino scoring the winner in stoppage time.