BERLIN - Bastian Schweinsteiger scored one goal and set up another as Bayern Munich moved ever closer to the Bundesliga title with a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Schweinsteiger crossed for Mario Mandzukic to score with a powerful header in the 44th minute, and secured Bayerns league record 17th win in succession with a perfectly placed free kick in the 52nd. "It was an important goal, so Im happy it went in," the Germany midfielder said. Stefan Kiessling headed Leverkusens consolation from Roberto Hilberts cross in injury time. Bayern extended its league record unbeaten run to 50 games and moved 23 points clear of Borussia Dortmund with nine games remaining. Dortmund was beaten 2-1 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach, meaning Bayern can secure the title at Mainz next week if Dortmund and Schalke, 24 points behind in third, both fail to win. "I remember we were champions in Mainz a couple of times before. It was funny because they celebrated with us," Schweinsteiger said. "But its all the same when we do it." Bayern made a lacklustre start in its first game since Uli Hoeness stepped down as president after being convicted of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. Son Heung-min should have scored for Leverkusen in the 11th, when he had only Manuel Neuer to beat after being played in by Kiessling, but the South Korean shot wide of the far post. "I wanted to place it in the corner," Son said. "We did everything we could." Neuer also made a good save to deny Simon Rolfes from distance in the 29th. Mandzukic beat Philipp Wollscheid to meet Schweinsteigers cross before the break, and Schweinsteiger shot over the wall and inside the top left corner to seal the result. "We werent at out limit," Bayern midfielder Thomas Mueller grumbled. "Its all the same (when Bayern clinch the title). We want to win again to keep our rhythm so were there again in the knockout rounds of the Champions League." Earlier, Mainz came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Stuttgart, Wolfsburg could only draw 1-1 at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig, and Hertha Berlin lost 3-0 at home to Hannover. Dortmund, which hosts Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday, was without influential midfielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus due to suspension and muscle problems, respectively, as 10-man Gladbach ended its nine-game run without a win. "We had a tough time and naturally were all relieved," said Gladbach coach Lucien Favre, who extended his contract on Wednesday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck the crossbar for Dortmund before Raffael scored at the other end in the 31st. Max Kruse made it 2-0 by drawing Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller first one way, then the other, before clipping the ball in. "When you go nine games without scoring then of course its a relief," said Kruse, who was dropped for Germanys recent game with Chile because of poor form. Havard Nordtveit was sent off for his second yellow card in the 69th, eight minutes before Dortmund substitute Milos Jojic pulled one back with a deflected shot. "It shouldnt happen to us at home," Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin said. "You could see after the sending-off that everyone believed in the equalizer but it wasnt to be." Hoffenheim led 2-0 minutes into the second half, but the defence crumbled, letting in three Mainz goals in an eight-minute span, and Shinji Okazakis second in injury time. "I cant explain why we gave the game away," Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol said. It had been briefly interrupted in the first half when Hoffenheims Andreas Beck crashed into a pitchside cameraman, knocking him and the TV camera over. Both needed treatment. The cameraman was carried away on a stretcher, while Beck carried on. With new coach Huub Stevens in charge, Stuttgart was hoping to end its nine-game winless streak. But Bremen equalized with 12 minutes to go. "A pity," Stevens said. Braunschweig was far happier in salvaging its draw with Wolfsburg. "This lets us continue on our journey of Bundesliga participation," Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht said. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey . As a follow-up, TSN.ca offers you the opportunity to chime in on all the big issues with our insiders. Read up on all the questions and answers, and put in your own two cents on our popular Your Call feature. Alex English Nuggets Jersey . -- Navy football player Will McKamey, who has been hospitalized since collapsing at practice three days ago, has died while in a coma. http://www.nuggetsproshop.com/Jarred-Vanderbilt-Nuggets-Jersey/ . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Malik Beasley Nuggets Jersey .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes hope to remain perfect at home in January on Friday night as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to PNC Arena. Paul Millsap Nuggets Jersey . "Canada," Bolland said with a smile. "Is that a question?" One day earlier, though, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri wasnt so sure his home and native land could pull off the win against the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament.BERLIN -- Karim Bellarabi scored the quickest goal in 52 seasons of the Bundesliga to help Bayer Leverkusen beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the opening round on Saturday. Bellarabi scored nine seconds after kickoff, beating the previous record of 11 seconds set by Giovane Elber for Bayern Munich in January 1998, Ulf Kirsten for Leverkusen in March 2002 and Paul Freier for Bochum in May 2003. Hakan Calhanoglu passed the ball to Son Heung-min, who played Sebastian Boenisch through. Boenisch passed to Bellarabi, who eluded Dortmund defender Matthias Ginter and slotted inside the left post from 12 metres. "We did a lot of things very well," said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt after his Bundesliga debut. "We constantly attacked the opponents and stayed very active." Dortmunds efforts were frustrated by disciplined defending and intense pressure, particularly in the first half with the visitors tiring in the second. "It was a very scrappy game. There was hardly any space," Dortmund midfielder Sebastian Kehl said. Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno made a host of saves to deny the home side a late equalizer, before Bellarabi set up Stefan Kiessling to secure the result in the fifth minute of injury time. "In the end you have to grit your teeth, but when a result like this comes out of it, then it helps you forget the pain," Kiessling said. Leverkusen holds a 3-2 lead over FC Copenhagen ahead of the home leg of their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday. Earlier, Schalke let a one-goal lead slip by conceding twice in three minutes to lose to Hannover 2-1. Klaas Jan Huntelaar opened the scoring with a tap-in when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting set him up two minutes into the second half, but Edgar Prib equalized for Hannover in the 67th aftter a great run and cross from Leonardo Bittencourt.dddddddddddd Prib broke quickly three minutes later and set up Joselu for what proved to be the winning goal. "Our plan worked until the 67th minute," said Schalke coach Jens Keller, whose side crashed out of the first round of the German Cup after losing to third-division Dynamo Dresden 2-1 on Monday. Also Saturday, promoted Cologne drew 0-0 with visiting Hamburger SV on its return to the Bundesliga after two seasons in the second division. "After 75 goals (conceded) in the previous season, a scoreless draw is good," said Hamburg coach Mirko Slomka. Haris Seferovics 15th-minute goal on his Bundesliga debut was enough for Eintracht Frankfurt to beat Freiburg 1-0. The Swiss striker scooped the loose ball inside the post after Freiburgs defence failed to clear. "We can play much, much better. We made too many simple mistakes. But I dont want to complain," said Frankfurt coach Thomas Schaaf on his return to the Bundesliga after a season away. Werder Bremen came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Hertha Berlin and Hoffenheim defeated Augsburg 2-0 at home. Julian Schieber scored with Herthas first attack in the 18th minute and the former Borussia Dortmund striker claimed his second in the 47th as the home side had most of the chances. Assani Lukimya pulled one back against the run of play six minutes later and Franco di Santo equalized two minutes after that for the visitors. Adam Szalai got Hoffenheim off the mark in the 33rd after Augsburg missed several chances to clear, two minutes before Tarik Elyounoussi made it 2-0 with the visitors defence still in disarray. Defending champion Bayern Munich kicked off the season Friday with a 2-1 win over visiting Wolfsburg. ' ' '