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Caped Aubameyang strikes as Dortmund down Schalke

Ralph Orlowski / Reuters

Berlin - Gabon star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was happy to play Borussia Dortmund's 'superhero' on Saturday by netting in their 3-0 home win over Schalke 04 in the Ruhr Valley derby.

Dortmund climbed to ninth in the table after picking up their fourth consecutive league win after starting February bottom of the table.

After going close with a string of chances, Dortmund finally got the breakthrough when Aubameyang -- who had compared winning the derby to 'an orgasm' in midweek -- pounced on a mistake in the visitors' defence to roll the ball home on 78 minutes.

It was his fifth goal in as many league games and the 25-year-old celebrated by donning a 'Batman' hat, playing up to his 'caped crusader' nickname, while teammate Marco Reus wore a 'Robin' mask to play his side-kick.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan made it 2-0 a minute later when he slid home Ilkay Gundogan's cross to claim his first goal of the season.

Reus, who had crashed a shot against the crossbar, fired wide and had a shot blocked in the first half, finally got on the scoresheet by poaching Borussia's third on 86 minutes to score for the fifth match running in all competitions.

Schalke's 19-year-old goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther paused too long over a back-pass and Reus simply tapped the ball into the empty net behind the despairing teenager.

The defeat drops Schalke, who were missing several stars with injury, to fifth while neighbours Dortmund are now just seven points adrift of the European places.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen built on their shock Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday with a 1-0 win at home to strugglers Freiburg to go fourth.

Veteran midfielder Simon Rolfes, who will retire at the end of the season, grabbed a first-half winner to give Leverkusen their first league win in four games.

Augsburg dropped to sixth after their 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin as ex-Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou scored a late winner at the Olympic Stadium to claim his sixth goal of the season.

Stuttgart stay bottom after their 1-1 draw at Hanover 96 while Hoffenheim are just two points short of the European places for next season after their 2-0 win at home to Mainz.

On Friday, Bayern Munich celebrated their 115th birthday with a 4-1 win over Cologne to go 11 points clear before second-placed Wolfsburg go to resurgent Werder Bremen on Sunday.

Arjen Robben netted his 17th goal in 19 league matches this season with a crisp header with 20 minutes left to remain the league's top scorer.

Earlier, captain Bastian Schweinsteiger gave hosts Bayern an early lead at the Allianz Arena before Franck Ribery added a second inside 10 minutes.

Cologne fought back when Nigeria international Anthony Ujah scored right on the stroke of half-time but Bayern roared back as Robben then Poland striker Robert Lewandowski extended their lead.

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