Leverkusen and Bayern ensure status quo at the top with wins to end 2023
Both Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich ended the year with wins, beating Bochum and Wolfsburg, respectively.
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen remain four points clear of Bayern Munich, who have a game in hand, after beating VfL Bochum 4-0 at home. Bayern beat Wolfsburg 2-1 on the road.
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso appeared to field the team he intends to use when Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou and Victor Boniface travel to the Africa Cup of Nations next month, with the three Africans benched in favor of Josip Stanisic, Piero Hincapie and Patrick Schick.
It's safe to say that Schick stole the show, scoring a sensational hat-trick in the first half to essentially put the game away early. Boniface came on later to make it 4-0 for Die Werkself.
At the Volkswagen Arena, an injury-hit Bayern Munich side, once again without Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka through illness, kept the pressure on Leverkusen with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Wolfsburg.
Jamal Musiala opened the scoring with a header before Harry Kane added to the lead with a superb strike from outside the area soon after.
It looked like business as usual for Bayern, but then Maximilian Arnold pulled one back for Wolfsburg late in the first half.
Ultimately, Thomas Tuchel's side held on for the win, which leaves them four points behind Leverkusen with a game in hand against Union Berlin in January.
Elsewhere in tonight's action, Stuttgart leapfrogged RB Leipzig into third place with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Augsburg, Heidenheim moved up to ninth with a 3-2 win over Freiburg, while Eintracht Frankfurt climbed to sixth after scoring twice late on to beat Gladbach 2-1.
