Mario Gomez edges Bayern Munich past Hoffenheim

Bayern Munich continued their march towards the Bundesliga title this afternoon with a narrow 1-0 victory at struggling Hoffenheim.

Coach Jupp Heynckes rang the changes for the visitors, with Xherdan Shaqiri and Mario Gomez earning starts for the league leaders.

Gomez wasted no time in staking his claim for a regular place, scoring the only goal after nudging Franck Ribery's header over the line.

Hoffenheim battled bravely but were fortunate not to fall further behind when Bastian Schweinsteiger hit the crossbar on two separate occasions.

David Alaba also went close late on but Bayern had to settle for a victory by the narrowest of margins.

The Bavarian giants are now 17 points clear of Borussia Dortmund.