Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller (C) celebrates with teammates after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Bayern Munich at the Borussia-Park stadium in Moenchengladbach, Germany, March 19, 2017. Bayern Munich won 1-0. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
BERLIN, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Thomas Mueller's lone goal helped front-runners Bayern Munich to beat Monchengladbach 1-0 and Schalke overcame Mainz 1-0 thanks to the decider from Sead Kolasinac at the closer of the 25th round on Sunday.
Bayern Munich increased their advantage to 13 points atop the standings after securing the 19th win of the season, and the fourth in a row.
The German giants controlled the proceedings from the kick-off against passive Borussia Monchengladbach, who focussed on their defence.
However, the "Bavarians" had to wait just before the break to work out their first promising opportunity as Arjen Robben unleashed a curl shot from the edge of the box, which rattled the right post.
Robert Lewandowski almost headed in the rebound but Monchengladbach goalie Yann Sommer defused the effort with a reflex save from close range.
After the restart, Bayern started where they left off whereas Monchengladbach's bulwark was able to stand firm against the furious attacks.
Nevertheless, the visitors eventually broke the deadlock with 63 minutes into the encounter as Thiago Alcantara's pass into path allowed Thomas Mueller to beat onrushing Sommer from inside the box.
The "Foals" tried to respond but they failed to seriously threat Bayern's defence in the closing period.
With the narrow win, Bayern make a big step towards their title defence as they sit 13 points adrift of runner up Leipzig. Monchengladbach lost their 11th game of the season to slip to the 10th place of the table.
Elsewhere, Schalke reaped their second straight win after edging Mainz on the road 1-0.
Both sides staged a contested first half, which ended goalless. Schalke controlled the ball but were unable to pose threat to Mainz' well-positioned defence.
Mainz created the better chances but neither Jhon Cordoba nor Danny Latza were able to slot past Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann.
The "Royal Blues" ensured a bright start into the second half when Sead Kolasinac exchanged passes with Guido Burgstaller to beat Mainz' custodian Jonas Loessl with 50 minutes played.
Mainz increased the pressure but Pablo De Blasis and Yoshinori Muto failed to make the most of their chances. Meanwhile, Schalke should have doubled the lead in the closing period but for all that Nabil Bentaleb squandered a one-on-one.
With the back-to-back victory Schalke move on the 9th place to sit just four points away from the European spots. Mainz suffered the second straight defeat to stay on the 12th position of the Bundesliga standings.
