Hoffenheim stumbles at Hertha

Nov 9, 2008 - 7:49 PM Hoffenheim missed the chance to reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga after slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on Sunday afternoon.

Andriy Voronin scored the game's only goal in the 70th minute to end Hoffenheim's five-game winning streak and relegate them to second place in the table behind Bayer Leverkusen on goal difference.

Defending champions Bayern Munich are poised threateningly in third, a point adrift, after a 2-1 victory at Schalke.

Luca Toni gave Bayern a third-minute lead only for Jefferson Farfan to equalize two minutes later.

Franck Ribery's goal shortly after the half-hour mark proved to be the winner for Jurgen Klinsmann's men.

Two goals from Nikos Liberopoulos was not enough to give Eintracht Frankfurt victory over Stuttgart.

The Greece striker put Eintracht 2-0 up but Stuttgart salvaged a draw thanks to goals in the final 20 minutes from Martin Lanig and Mario Gomez.

Saturday's action was headlined by Leverkusen squandering a three-goal lead against struggling Karlsruhe.

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 though and Tim Sebastian and Alexander Iashvili completed the comeback in the second half as Karlsruhe avoided dropping into the bottom three.

Hamburg are fourth, 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 their European hopes a boost with a 3-0 win over basement boys Energie Cottbus thanks to a hat-trick from Grafite.

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

Borussia Monchengladbach came out on top in their relegation tussle with Arminia Bielefeld, a goal in each half from Marko Marin earning them a 2-0 victory.

Saturday's other game - between Bochum and Werder Bremen, who had Mesut Ozil sent off six minutes from time - ended goalless.

On Friday, Cologne beat Hannover 2-1.