Leverkusen fails to hold big lead against Karlsruhe

Nov 8, 2008 - 7:47 PM By PA SportsTicker

Bayer Leverkusen threw away a three-goal lead to finish in a 3-3 draw at struggling Karlsruhe on Saturday and miss a chance to go back to the top of the Bundesliga standings.

Patrick Helmes opened the scoring in the first minute and further strikes from Stefan Kiessling and Michal Kadlec before the half-hour mark looked to have sealed a fifth straight win for the visitors.

Antonio Da Silva pulled one back before the break and Tim Sebastian and Alexander Iashvili completed the comeback in the second half as Karlsruhe avoided dropping into the bottom three.

Leverkusen is now level on points with leaders Hoffenheim, but the top-flight new club can move three points clear by beating Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Hamburg moved up to third, two points off the pace, after a 2-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund.

Mladen Petric, playing against the club he left in the summer, gave Martin Jol's side a ninth-minute lead.

Fellow Croatia international Ivica Olic made it two before Tamas Hajnal pulled one back for Dortmund three minutes after the break.

Dortmund defender Robert Kovac was then shown a red card after the final whistle.

Wolfsburg gave its European hopes a boost with a 3-0 win over basement side Energie Cottbus thanks to a hat-trick from Grafite.

The Brazilian opened the scoring from the spot in the 35th minute and completed his trick after the break.

The win lifts Felix Magath's club up to sixth, while Cottbus is four points from safety after its eighth loss of the season.

Borussia Monchengladbach came out on top in its relegation tussle with Arminia Bielefeld, as a goal in each half from Marko Marin earned it a 2-0 victory.

The win - Gladbach's first away from home this season - moves it out of the bottom three by a point.

Arminia, though, lies second from the bottom, two points ahead of Cottbus.

The day's other game between Bochum and Werder Bremen, which had Mesut Ozil sent off six minutes from time, ended goalless.

Despite the point, Bochum still slip into the bottom three.