Bundesliga Saturday Round-Up: Points Gap Narrows as Leaders Stumble

Koeln 0-1 Hannover
Hamburg 2-3 Borussia M'gladbach
Nuernberg 2-2 Werder Bremen
Stuttgart 0-0 Bayern Munich
Wolfsburg 3-3 Mainz
Schalke 2-2 Leverkusen


Towards the end of a dismal first half from Koeln, Jan Rosenthal put the visitors ahead, and they never looked back. Koeln looked better in the second half, but Hannover's defence held well, and the visitors took a well-earned win.


Piotr Trochowski put the home side ahead early before Marco Reus equalized in M'gladbach's only good attacking run of the half.

Ze Roberto put Hamburg back ahead early in the second half, but goals from Dante (76) and Rob Friend (82) sunk Hamburg for the first time this season.


The home side played exceptionally efficient football from the opening minute. Despite losing the majority of possession to a dominant Bremen midfield, Nuernberg's back line held well and Werder had very few opportunities. Christian Eigler tapped in a close-ranged effort after just three minutes, and Albert Bunjaku headed made it 2-0 after the half hour mark.


In what turned out to be a very open match, neither side was able to do enough in midfield to score a goal. Both defences were in splendid form and, despite plenty of transition play, the 0-0 scoreline held.


New signing Obafemi Martins finally came good for Wolfsburg, netting an early brace to give his side a commanding lead after 20 minutes. It was a very end-to-end match, however, and Mainz fought back well. Chadlj Amri pulled one back in the 35th minute before Andreas Ivanschitz netted a fine free kick just before the half.

Zvjezdan Misimovic put Wolfsburg ahead halfway through the second half, but Mainz right-sided all-rounder Tim Hoogland scored his third goal in two matches to take a well-earned point for the visitors.


After nearly a half hour of scoreless play, Toni Kroos fired in a low drive from 20 yards to give the visitors the lead. Stefan Kiessling headed in another before the half-time break to make it 2-0, and nearly added a third in injury time.
 
Like last week, Schalke battled back. In the 82nd minute, Kevin Kuranyi pulled one back before Vicente Sanchez levelled two minutes from time.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com