Jansen double fires 10-man Hamburg top

Germany defender Marcell Jansen scored both goals to put 10-man Hamburg back on top of the Bundesliga on Sunday in a 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen.

Jansen’s goals means Hamburg now lead Hoffenheim by two points with Hertha Berlin dropping to third while Bayern Munich are fourth – four points behind Hamburg – with Bayer Leverkusen fifth and six points behind the leaders.

It was the first time Jansen has scored twice in a league game in his career.

“I’m delighted,” said the 23-year-old, who has 28 caps for Germany. “Hopefully we can keep our place at the top of the table and build on this.”

Ex-Bayern Munich star Jansen put his side into the lead with his first goal of the season when he fired home from the edge of the penalty area after just 11 minutes with a superb strike which gave Bayer goalkeeper Rene Adler no chance.

Striker Patrick Helmes equalised for Bayer, with his third goal in two games after a pair last week at Hoffenheim last Friday, on 29 minutes and the game looked to be heading for a draw.

But Jansen volleyed home on 66 minutes after a header from Jose Paolo Guerrero and gave Martin Jol-coached Hamburg the three points they needed to usurp Hoffenheim.

Hamburg had defender Jerome Boateng shown a red card on 86 minutes for a foul just moments after earning his first yellow, but Leverkusen could not make the extra man count.

Hoffenheim had led the table for 24 hours after they were held to a 3-3 draw at Stuttgart on Saturday while defending champions Bayern Munich slumped 2-1 at home to Cologne – their third defeat in four league games.

Hertha lost top spot when they were beaten 2-1 at Wolfsburg, who remain unbeaten at home this season, as a goal from Brazilian Cicero was cancelled out by second-half strikes from Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko.

Hoffenheim midfielder Sejad Salihovic missed a penalty in injury time to leave his side on 40 points with Hertha.

The biggest shock of the day came when mid-table Cologne went to Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena and enjoyed a 2-1 win.

Hamburg, Hertha Berlin and now Cologne have all beaten the defending champions since the season resumed at the beginning of the month.

French midfielder Fabrice Ehret fired his side ahead after 22 minutes and Bayern fell further behind when teenage midfielder Daniel Brosinski capped his debut with a goal on 34 minutes despite being surrounded by defenders.

Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten scored a consolation on 84 minutes for Munich with time running out, but the poor performance is of concern to Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Sporting Lisbon.

Despite holding AC Milan to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday in the UEFA Cup, Werder Bremen were beaten 2-1 at strugglers Energie Cottbus.

Strugglers Bochum picked up a 1-0 win at fellow relegation contenders Arminia Bielefeld, while mid-table Eintracht Frankfurt enjoyed a 1-0 win at second-from-bottom Karlsruhe to stop their freefall in the league.

Bottom club Borussia Moenchengladbach closed the gap between the rest of the league to two points when they enjoyed a 3-2 win at home over Hanover with rising stars Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann both scoring.

Germany veteran Oliver Neuville hit the winner with time running out.

On Friday, goals by Schalke 04 striker Kevin Kuranyi and Dortmund’s Mohamed Zidan either side of half-time meant the Ruhr valley derby ended in a 1-1 draw on Friday which left both sides in mid-table.