Pizarro, Hunt fire Bremen up to third

Werder Bremen strikers Claudio Pizarro and Aaron Hunt both netted on Sunday to seal a 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart which lifted their side up to fourth in the Bundesliga.

Bremen have only lost one game all season and Thomas Schaaf’s men were rarely troubled by Stuttgart who are now 13th in the table.

Werder got off to the pefect start when Germany squad member Marko Marin beat Stuttgart defender Stefano Celozzi and swung in a cross to the far post which ex-Chelsea forward Pizarro headed home on three minutes.

And fellow striker Aaron Hunt made sure the three points went to Bremen when Germany midfielder Mesut Oezil spotted a huge gap in the Stuttgart defence.

Oezil floated his pass and Hunt drove his shot into the bottom right corner on 51 minutes past Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

On Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen took over at the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-0 mauling of struggling Nuremberg 4-0 while both Bayern Munich and defending champions Wolfsburg drew.

With Hamburg playing bottom side Hertha Berlin – who have announced Friedhelm Funkel as their new coach – on Sunday, Leverkusen blitzed Nuremberg with three first-half goals.

Bayer enjoyed a dream start when midfielder Toni Kroos netted from a direct free-kick after just two minutes with Germany midfielder Simon Rolfes adding the second from a spot-kick on 28 minutes.

Leverkusen striker Eren Derdiyok added to Nuremberg’s misery when he scored in the 34th minute before his partner up front Steffan Kiessling headed home the fourth goal on 68 minutes to give Bayer’s goal difference a boost.

Leverkusen will stay top unless Hamburg win by three or more goals on Sunday.

Bayern were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Cologne which leaves them eighth.

Wolfsburg’s erratic form continues as the defending champions drew 1-1 at Bochum.

The hosts went ahead when Iran striker Vahid Hashemian netted just after the break, but Edin Dzeko scored to level for the Wolves and the point leaves them seventh.

Mainz picked up their fourth win in six games with a convincing 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim as midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz hit an early goal before Aristide Bance scored with a header on 11 minutes.

Hoffenheim grabbed a consolation goal through defender Andreas Ibertsberger but the defeat leaves them fifth.

Hanover ran riot with a 5-2 win over Freiburg after bolting out to a 2-0 lead in the opening ten minutes.

Freiburg pulled a goal back, but Hanover’s Tunisia defender Karim Haggui scored on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-1 at the break before Hanover made sure of the win in the second half.

Borussia Dortmund won 1-0 against Moenchengladbach.

On Friday, substitute Gerald Asamoah scored his first goal in over 10 months to help Schalke bounce back from losing their last two games by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0.

Schalke made sure of the three points in injury-time when Jefferson Farfan scored from the penalty spot.

The victory moved Schalke into third place.