Champions Leverkusen cruise past Augsburg to climb into second spot

German champions Bayer Leverkusen struck twice in the first half to ease past hosts Augsburg 2-0 on Saturday and climb to second place in the Bundesliga with their fourth straight league win.

Buoyed up by their midweek 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League, Leverkusen, who have now won their last seven games across all competitions, went in front when Martin Terrier stabbed home in the 14th minute.

Leverkusen briefly took their foot off the gas, giving the hosts more space but Florian Wirtz's low drive in the 40th minute doubled their lead.

"I am very satisfied with the game and especially with the way we played," said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. "We were very solid, had good control and that is not easy. That's the way we want to play in away matches."

Leverkusen have now gone 24 consecutive away matches in the Bundesliga without defeat, with only Bayern Munich having set a longer run.

"This win is good for us. The next match, that is our only focus. The table in December is not something that is so important. More important is the way we played. For anything else it is still too early," Alonso said.

Leverkusen are on 29 points in second place, four behind leaders Bayern who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Mainz 05 for their first league loss of the season.