Wolfsburg close in on title

Wolfsburg moved a big step closer to the Bundesliga title this afternoon with a thumping win at Hannover while Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim.

The Wolves headed into today’s penultimate round of league matches level on points with defending champions Bayern at the summit and with a slightly superior goal difference.

Today’s results mean Felix Magath’s team, who are now two points clear of Bayern and have a goal difference seven better, should require only a point next weekend at home to Werder Bremen to be crowned champions.

Edin Dzeko netted a hat-trick today and Grafite a brace to stun Hannover 5-0 and put Wolfsburg on the brink.

Bayern went ahead through Franck Ribery at Hoffenheim but required a Luca Toni goal two minutes before half-time to gain even a share of the spoils after Demba Ba and Carlos Eduardo had turned the match on its head.

Jupp Heynckes’ side were unable to find a third in the second half, allowing Stuttgart to join them on 64 points courtesy of their 2-0 win over Energie Cottbus. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Cacau were the men on target.

Hertha Berlin’s title aspirations were all but ended as their 0-0 home draw against Schalke saw them slip three points behind Wolfsburg with a vastly inferior goal difference.

The fourth-placed capital club are at least assured of a Europa League berth, but the race is hotting up for fifth spot and the final European position.

Hamburg’s hopes of playing European football next season suffered a blow as they lost 1-0 at home to Cologne.

Fabrice Ehret netted the only goal of the game after nine minutes to send Martin Jol’s one-time league leaders down a place to sixth.

Borussia Dortmund took advantage and climbed to fifth with a 6-0 demolition of Arminia Bielefeld.

Sebastian Kehl scored twice for Dortmund, with Tamas Hajnal, Nelson Valdez and substitutes Tinga and Mohamed Zidan also on target.

Karlsruhe’s relegation was confirmed despite a 3-1 win at UEFA Cup finalists Werder Bremen.

Lars Stindl put the visitors in the ascendancy with two first-half goals, with Alexander Iashvili adding a third 10 minutes into the second half. Hugo Almeida grabbed a late consolation for Bremen.

The win was not enough to save Karlsruhe, however, with Bochum’s 2-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt – thanks to goals by Vahid Hashemian and Diego Klimovicz – putting them out of reach and assuring their top-flight status.

Arminia and Cottbus are also in precarious positions after their defeats. The pair lie in the bottom three and are three points adrift of 15th-placed Borussia Monchengladbach, who have a better goal difference despite today’s 5-0 hammering at Bayer Leverkusen.

Stefan Kiessling and Patrick Helmes put the hosts on their way with goals in the first half before Gonzalo Castro, Michal Kadlec and a Bonfim Dante own goal sealed the rout.

The team placed 17th will go down automatically, while the 16th-placed side will go into a relegation play-off with the third-placed club in the 2.Bundesliga.