( CNN ) -- Bayern Munich capped a successful week by returning to the top of the German Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory away to title rivals Schalke on Saturday despite having a man sent off in the first half . Louis Van Gaal 's team followed up the midweek Champions League victory over Manchester United with a win that puts them a point clear of previous leaders Schalke ahead of Wednesday 's trip to England for the second leg of the quarterfinal . Bayern took a 2-0 lead after only 26 minutes as Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller scored within 60 seconds of each other , but Schalke 's former Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi reduced the deficit soon after . The Bavarians had Hamit Altintop sent off for a second booking four minutes before halftime , but Schalke -- beaten by Bayern in the German Cup semifinals 10 days ago -- could not claim a point and had Marcelo Bordon dismissed at the end of the match . Bayern were again without Dutch forward Arjen Robben , who missed the United game with a calf problem , but surged into a two-goal lead when French playmaker Ribery fired home from a corner and Tuesday 's match-winner Ivica Olic set up Muller . Kuranyi followed up his double from last weekend with another strike from a pass by Rafinha , who was fouled by Altintop to see the Turkey international an early bath . Kuranyi should have leveled just before the break but missed from close range , and Schalke failed to seriously threaten the Bayern goal in the second spell . Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen suffered another blow to their title hopes with a 3-2 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt which left the former leaders six points adrift of Bayern after a run of just one win in seven league outings . Frankfurt , who upset Bayern two weeks ago , moved up to eighth with a third successive win thanks to Maik Franz 's 89th-minute winner . Leverkusen led 2-1 straight after halftime through Stefan Kiessling 's second goal , but had Daniel Schwaab sent off three minutes later for a rash tackle on Umit Korkmaz . Caio leveled on 62 with a super long-range effort , and Franz snatched victory from close range . Borussia Dortmund consolidated fourth place with a 2-1 victory at home to Werder Bremen , scoring both goals in the first half through Kevin Grosskreutz and Neven Subotic before Aaron Hunt pulled one back in the 65th minute . Dortmund closed to with a point of Leverkusen , who hold the final Champions League place , and went four clear of fifth-placed Bremen . Stuttgart moved up to seventh with a 2-1 victory at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach , while Nuremberg moved three points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Mainz . Bochum joined Nuremberg on 28 points with a 1-1 draw at third-bottom Freiburg , while bottom side Hertha Berlin earned a surprise 3-0 win at Cologne in Saturday 's late match thanks to two first-half goals from Raffael and a 75th-minute effort from fellow Brazilian Cicero .
Bayern Munich return to top of German Bundesliga with 2 -1 victory at title rivals Bayern . Bavarians beat previous leaders despite having Hamit Altintop sent off late in first half . third -placed Bayer Leverkusen six points behind Eintracht Frankfurt after losing at Eintracht Frankfurt . Borussia Dortmund close on Bundesliga with a 2 -1 victory at home to Borussia Dortmund .