Petric fires Hamburg to fifth, Bayern beat Hoffenheim

Croatia striker Mladen Petric scored both goals to seal a 2-1 win at Cologne on Sunday to keep Hamburg in touch with league leaders Hoffenheim, who stay top despite losing to Bayern Munich on Friday.

Martin Jol-coached Hamburg are up to fifth and four points off Hoffenheim and Bayern thanks to Petric's two headed first-half goals which gave his side their ninth win of the season.

Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic scored a late consolation goal for the hosts.

Wolfsburg are up to sixth after their 2-1 win over Hanover whose striker Jiri Stajner managed to score for both sides and headed the winning goal for Wolfsburg.

After Wolfsburg's Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo opened the scoring, Hanover's Czech Republic striker scored for his side in the 59th minute, but just four minutes later Stajner was the last player to head the ball before it flew into his own net.

With time running out, Hanover goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz was shown a straight red card for bringing down Wolfsburg midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic who was awarded a penalty.

But stand in goalkeeper Jan Rosenthal saved the spotkick.

Defending champions Bayern are now neck and neck with Hoffenheim at the top after Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni scored an injury time goal at Munich's Allianz Arena on Friday night to seal a 2-1 win.

The win means only goal difference is keeping Bayern off top spot and Jurgen Klinsmann's have the chance to be top before the Christmas break when they play Stuttgart next weekend.

“We were able to maintain the pace for the full 90 minutes,” said Bayern's Germany defender Philipp Lahm.

“Hoffenheim aren't top of the league without good reason, but we've taken all three points off them, which is incredibly important.”

On Saturday, Germany striker Stefan Kiessling scored twice to help Bayer Leverkusen go third as they picked up a 3-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“That was an important victory,” said Leverkusen boss Bruno Labbadia.

“'Gladbach made life hard for us and we had to work hard for every scrap of territory, millimetre by millimetre.

“We did that and we are back in the hunt for the league title now.”

Hertha Berlin, who had won their previous three straight Bundesliga games, were beaten 1-0 at Schalke 04 to drop to fourth after Gerald Asamoah scored a second-half goal for the Royal Blues.

Greece striker Nikos Liberopoulos scored two first-half goals, equalising with a penalty and added a header to help lift Eintracht Frankfurt up to 11th after their 4-0 win over VfL Bochum.

VfB Stuttgart's new coach Markus Babbel has now won his first two games in charge after taking over from Armin Veh as his side strolled to a 3-0 win at Energie Cottbus.

“We began very well and managed to control the game thanks to the early goal,” said Babbel.

“The second goal gave us some security and it settled the nerves.”

The defeat leaves Cottbus just above the relegation zone, while Stuttgart are up to ninth.

There was more frustration for struggling ten-man Werder Bremen who were beaten 1-0 at Karlsruhe after Stefan Buck fired home off Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese in the game's dying stages.

The defeat drops Bremen to tenth in the table and is hardly the ideal preparation for the visit of Inter Milan on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Mid-table Arminia Bielefeld and Borussia Dortmund took a point each as they ground out a goalless draw.