Bundesliga: Bayern Held, Leverkusen Stay Top

Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Schalke
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-2 Bayern Munich
VfB Stuttgart 0-0 Arminia Bielefeld
1899 Hoffenheim 3-2 VfL Wolfsburg
Hertha Berlin 2-1 Hamburg
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Energie Cottbus 1-0 Karlsruhe


The top match of the afternoon was won by Leverkusen as Schalke saw their title hopes dealt another blow and Leverkusen maintained their place at the top of the table.
Following a build-up of pressure, the home side opened the scoring after 30 minutes through Stefan Kießling. Renato Augusto bamboozled Levan Kobiashvili down the right, before putting an inviting ball into the area. Kießling peeled off his marker to find the space before firing in past Manuel Neuer.
The Werkself doubled their lead on 41 minutes with Patrick Helmes getting in on the scoring act. Renato Augusto was once again the instigator, and when his pass eventually broke to Helmes, the Leverkusen hit-man took no time at all to fire a shot past Manuel Neuer.
With the 2-0 lead looking apparently secure, Leverkusen then made life more difficult for themselves when Gonzalo Castro was sent off for a second bookable offence on 67 minutes.
Schalke made the closing stages very exciting by grabbing a goal five minutes from time when Kevin Kuranyi headed home a Christian Pander cross.
The Königsblauen very nearly grabbed an equaliser late on, but Gerald Asamoah had his effort ruled out for offside.

A second half fightback saw Bayern Munich held by Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Borussia Park.
The ‚Classic’ saw the opening goal go to the visitors with Luca Toni scoring after 21 minutes. Philipp Lahm broke down the right and was not stopped by Levels. From the bye-line the Bayern full back cut the ball back for Luca Toni to score from just five meters out.
Bayern made it 2-0 after 65 minutes via the penalty spot. Gohouri felled Frenchman Franck Ribéry in the area, and in contrast to recent weeks he stepped up himself to slot home the spot kick.
The closing stages were then made more interesting when Rob Friend headed home for Gladbach with 12 minutes remaining. Marko Marin’s corner was flicked on by Baumjohann, and Friend beat Demichelis to the ball to nod home into the left hand corner.
The ‚Fohlen’ fightback was then secured on 81 minutes with American Mike Bradley scoring his first goal for Mönchengladbach. Baumjohann fed Colautti in the left hand side of the penalty area, and he beat Lell before putting the ball across to Bradley who converted from four meters out.

Stuttgart remained without a win in their pst four games with a goalless draw versus Arminia Bielefeld.
The guests earned their point following a solid defensive showing and with a bit of luck could of taken all three points. The Swabians on the other hand were booed off by their own fans at the final whistle after a largely disappointing performance.

There were goals aplenty in Mannheim as Hoffenheim returned to winning ways with a 3-2 win over Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg.
The scoring was opened in the 23rd minute and it was no surprise that it was Vedad Ibisevic who grabbed it. The Bundesliga leading scorer fired home a right-foot shot after being fed by strike partner Obasi. His shot wasn’t hit cleanly, but it still ended up in the back of the net.
The lead however was short lived with Wolfsburg equalising four minutes later. Grafite flicked the ball onto to forward partner Dzeko and he played the ball back to the Brazilian. Grafite easily beat Jaissle before stroking home the equaliser.
Hoffenheim then regained the lead on 37 minutes through midfielder Carlos Eduardo. The Brazilian fired home a superb direct free kick, which left Diego Benaglio with absolutely no chance.
The home side however were not able to defend their lead and Felix Magath’s side were on level terms once more four minutes later. A free kick from Misimovic appeared to be flicked on by the hand of Ricardo Costa, but the referee saw nothing and Edin Dzeko profitted by slotting home from short range.
The 69th minute however found the fifth goal of the game and it as the home side who scored it. Carlos Eduardo beat Marcel Schäfer down the right before feeding Salihovic. The Bosnian laid the ball superbly onto to Chinedu Obasi, who scored with aplomb past Benaglio.

Hamburg’s poor away form continued with a 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin, who climb to fourth with this win.
The visitors took just 12 minutes to get their noses in front and it was Mladen Petric who grabbed the opener. Friedrich misjudged a throw in from the right and Petric latched onto the ball. The Croatian fired in a superb shot from about the penalty spot as he was falling to put HSV into the lead.
Within a minute of the second half though and the home side were back on level terms. Chahed crossed from the right and Brazilian Cicero scored with a diving header to get his side back in the game.
The ‚Old Lady’s’ fine start to the second half then continued with a second goal on 49 minutes. Second half substitute Domovchiyski was the scorer following good work down the right from Nicu.

Dortmund chalked up a fine home win over Frankfurt at the Signal-Iduna Park with Neven Subotic the two-goal hero.
The home side took just five minutes to open the scoring with Neven Subotic heading in after just five minutes. A corner from Tamas Hajnal found Subotic jumping the highest, and he made the most of Nikolov’s poor attempt to punch clear to nod the Dortmunder into the lead.
The home side’s lead was doubled on 19 minutes with Tamas Hajnal going from provider to scorer. Kehl robbed Fink of the ball before playing in Blaszczykowski, who got down the right before beating Galindo and feeding Hajnal, who fired the ball past Nikolov with a right-foot shot.
The home side’s dream start continued on 26 minutes when Subotic added his second and Dortmund’s third of the afternoon. A free kick this time from Hajnal found the impressive BVB centre back on hand to head home his fifth of the season.
Dortmund made it 4-0 with 69 minutes on the clock with defender Felipe Santana getting in on the scoring act. Hajnal once again was the provider and Santana got his head to the ball from an unmarked position to heap more woe on Frankfurt.

This game between strugglers Cottbus and Karlsruhe was settled by a single goal ten minutes from time by Branko Jelic.
The bottom side remain bottom of the table, but will take confidence from this result. With ten minutes left Jelic fired home after KSC keeper Miller had fisted a ball poorly.
The result sees Karlsruhe slip down into the bottom three.
--Mathew Burt, Goal.