Bremen claim top spot in Germany

Werder Bremen took full advantage of Bayern Munich’s inactivity to beat Hamburg 2-1, knocking their rivals off the top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season.

Boubacar Sanogo, playing against the club he left in the summer, put Bremen ahead after 15 minutes before Holland international Rafael van der Vaart equalised just after the hour hour after a mistake by keeper Christian Vander.

But Petri Pasanen scored courtesy of a deflection after 64 minutes but Bayern will have the chance to retake top spot when they face Arminia Bielefeld tomorrow.

Hamburg remain third, three points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who claimed a 3-0 win at Hertha Berlin thanks to goals from Carsten Ramelow, Tranquillo Barnetta and Sergej Barbarez.

Leverkusen climb above Karlsruhe after the promoted side slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Energie Cottbus, with Stanislav Angelov and Dimitar Rangelov scoring.

Marcelo Bordon scored the only goal as Schalke beat Bochum 1-0 while Stuttgart’s recent revival stuttered with a defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Fernando Meira equalised Mathieu Delpierre’s own goal but it was not enough thanks to Mladen Petric’s late winner.

Eintracht Frankfurt twice came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg.