Borussia Dortmund charged 13 points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga with a 2-0 win over St Pauli on Saturday, its first victory in three games.

Champion Bayern Munich climbed into second place for the first time this season with a comfortable 3-1 win at Mainz 05.

The league's top scorer Mario Gomez notched his 18th goal of the season to help seal Bayern's sixth win in eight matches.

Dortmund's Lucas Barrios scored his 10th league goal of the campaign in the first half and an own-goal from Ralph Gunesch just after the restart gave the hosts, who drew their two previous matches, a points total of 55.

"This was a well-deserved win because our discussions about converting our chances paid off," said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp. "The team remained concentrated and focused on their aim."

Klopp's side will need to maintain that focus when it takes on resurgent Bayern later this week.

Hanover 96 beat Kaiserslautern 3-0, thanks to a double from Jan Schlaudraff, to stay fourth on 41 points.

Paolo Guerrero also struck twice as Hamburg SV crushed Werder Bremen 4-0 in the northern derby to leave its rival without a win in five games and only a point off the relegation playoff spot.

The win gave Hamburg, which left unhappy striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench, some respite following its midweek defeat by bitter city rival St Pauli and increased the pressure on Werder coach Thomas Schaaf who has been at the club for 12 years.

VfL Wolfsburg slumped to its second straight defeat under new coach Pierre Littbarski, who replaced Steve McClaren, letting slip a 1-0 lead to lose 1-2 at SC Freiburg.

Bayer Leverkusen, level with Bayern on 42 points, was hosting second from bottom VfB Stuttgart yesterday.