BERLIN: Bayern Munich ground out a 3-1 win at Stuttgart and provisionally opened an eight-point lead in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

An own goal from Georg Niedermeier got the defending champions underway in the 31st minute and David Alaba made it 2-0 in the 52nd.

Daniel Didavi pulled one back in unorthodox fashion in the 63rd, scooping the ball while seated over the helpless Manuel Neuer. Didavi had fallen in a previous attempt.

Bayern substitute Douglas Costa sealed it in the 89th with a shot inside the left post.

Borussia Dortmund can restore the five-point gap Sunday with a win at Schalke in the Ruhr Derby.

Moritz Hartmann scored very late for Ingolstadt to shock Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 and deal a blow to the visitors' hopes of Champions League football. Gladbach, in fourth place, could be overtaken by Bayer Leverkusen, Mainz and Schalke by the end of the weekend.

Ingolstadt was the only side to win at home on Saturday afternoon.

Darmstadt won 2-1 at Hamburger SV to boost its chances of avoiding an immediate return to the second division, and Hoffenheim defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to climb four points above the home side in the relegation zone.

Augsburg came from behind to win at Werder Bremen 2-1 and climb two points above the home side in the relegation playoff place.

Wolfsburg, which defeated Real Madrid on Wednesday, was hosting Mainz in the late game.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola made four changes to the side that played Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Rafinha, Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso and Mario Goetze starting in place of Philipp Lahm, Thiago Alcantara, Douglas Costa and Thomas Mueller.

Mueller only got a short rest, coming on in the 27th minute for Arturo Vidal, who was on a yellow card and lucky to have avoided another.

Neuer made a brilliant save to deny Didavi early on. Didavi, whose Stuttgart contract expires at the end of the season, is joining Wolfsburg in the summer.

It was the best chance before Niedermeier turned Franck Ribery's cross for Robert Lewandowski inside his own goal with the help of a deflection from Stuttgart 'keeper Przemyslaw Tyton.

Alaba gave the visitors some breathing space, displaying good ball control to play it through Toni Sunjic's legs and then beat Tyron at his near post.

Didavi got the home fans off their seats with his unusual goal, and Thiago forced Tyton to produce an outstanding save to tip his effort onto the crossbar, before Costa finally settled the issue.

In Hamburg, where Darmstadt hadn't played since 1981, Aytac Sulu headed the visitors into a 38th-minute lead and Sandro Wagner crossed for Jerome Gondorf to make it 2-0 on a counterattack in the 54th.

Lewis Holtby's injury-time reply was much too late for Hamburg.

Bremen was missing top-scorer Claudio Pizarro, who has almost as many Bundesliga goals alone (188) as Augsburg has altogether (194), due to a stomach injury.

Florian Grillitsch scored before the break to give Bremen a deserved halftime lead, but Alfred Finnbogason equalized with the visitor's first chance in the 53rd and Hong Jeong-ho scored late to clinch a win for Augsburg.

Frankfurt was left to rue missed chances against Hoffenheim.

Nadiem Amiri scored in the 62nd after winning the ball from Marc Stendera, and Mark Uth sealed it in the last minute for Hoffenheim to move three points clear of the relegation zone.

Five rounds remain after the weekend's games.