Leverkusen fight back to regain first place

Bayer Leverkusen had to come from behind to beat mid-table Mainz 4-2 on Saturday and reclaim the Bundesliga’s top spot after Bayern Munich had temporarily taken charge.

Bayern’s 2-0 win over Hoffenheim on Friday night had given them a one-point advantage, but Leverkusen regained top spot and hit back from conceding an early goal after Mainz defender Tim Hoogland put his side into an early lead.

Coach Jupp Heynckes said his side earned the win after waking up from their earlier setback.

“We made life very hard for ourselves in the early stages,” admitted Heynckes.

“We were not really awake and we needed to be woken up and the goal did just that. The team reacted very well and the middle of the first half was our best passage of play.

“We had many chances to score, but after they pulled it back to 3-2 we stepped things up again. That is an asset of our game.”

Leverkusen began the fightback when Czech defender Michal Kadlec netted their first after 15 minutes before Swiss international midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta scored a second just four minutes later to make it 2-1.

Rising star Toni Kroos then volleyed home the third from directly in front of goal on 30 minutes before Mainz pulled back a consolation goal through defender Niko Bungert on 67 minutes.

But Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok made sure Leverkusen go back to the top with their fourth goal on 88 minutes.

The result leaves Leverkusen two points clear at the top of the table, but Schalke have the chance to claim second from Bayern if they can beat second-from-bottom Nuremberg on Sunday.

Bottom side Hertha Berlin got their 2010 off to a great start as they enjoyed a 3-0 win at Hanover in what was only their second win since the opening day of the season.

Polish midfielder Lukasz Piszczek netted in the 30th minute to get the capital club on the way before Brazil’s Raffael made it 2-0 after 33 minutes.

Greek striker Theofanis Gekas then slotted home a third with 10 minutes remaining and it could so easily have been 4-0 but Berlin’s Ramos had his late penalty saved.

Berlin are still three points from nearest rivals Nuremberg and eight points from escaping the bottom three, but the win will have boosted their confidence.

Hamburg are third after their 2-0 win at home to Freiburg as Germany midfielder Marcell Jansen and Croatia striker Mladen Petric scored either side of half-time.

Werder Bremen are sixth after their 1-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt – their fourth straight league defeat.

On Friday, Germany striker Miroslav Klose came off the bench to help Bayern beat Hoffenheim 2-0 after Argentina centre-back Martin Demichelis had opened the scoring for Munich in the first half.