Leverkusen prevails over Bochum courtesy of Patrik Schick’s hat trick

Patrik Schick scored a hat-trick in the first half as Bayer Leverkusen defeated Bochum 4-0 at home to maintain a four-point lead over Bayern Munich. Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso rested many first-team players, including Nigeria forward Victor Boniface, in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations in January. Schick was thus handed his first league appearance in 14 months and proved his manager's trust by winning and converting a penalty after 30 minutes. Two minutes later, the Czech attacker made it 2-0 by smashing in a Jeremie Frimpong cross. Just before halftime, he scored again, this time heading in a corner.

In the other matches, Stuttgart bounced back from Sunday's 3-0 setback against Bayern by defeating Augsburg at home by the same scoreline, leapfrogging RB Leipzig into third place. Heidenheim maintained their excellent inaugural Bundesliga season, rallying from behind twice to defeat Freiburg 3-2 at home.