Werder Bremen leapt to the top of the Bundesliga table with an edgy 3-2 win over fellow title challenger Hamburg.

The victory saw Bremen, who began the day level on points with their opponents, overtake Bayen Munich, for 24 hours at least to go top by two points and cap a fine week after their 3-2 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Boubacar Sanogo scored for Bremen on a through ball in the 15th minute against his former team mates.

Rafael van der Vaart capitalised on a blunder from keeper Christian Vander for the equaliser. But Bremen went back ahead when Petri Pasanen's cross was deflected into the goal.

Bulgaria defender Stanislav Angelov scored two late goals to lead Cottbus to a 2-0 win over Karlsruhe, only their second win in 15 matches and off the bottom of the table in front of Duisburg.

Leverkusen moved up to fourth place with a 3-0 away win over Hertha Berlin - their fourth straight victory. Carsten Ramelow scored from long-range, Tranquillo Barnetta tapped in a deflected free kick and Sergej Ramelow all scored for the visitors.

Germany midfielder Bernd Schneider, who was out for ten weeks with injury, made his comeback for Leverkusen, playing the final 20 minutes. It was Hertha's third loss in the last four matches.

Schalke captain Marcelo Bordon headed in the only goal of the game from an Ivan Rakitic in the 32nd minute to give them victory over local rivals Bochum.

The win, their third in a row, earned Schalke revenge for the 2-1 defeat that cost them the title last season.

But Schalke faced jeers from the home crowd after the final whistle for the modest effort that followed a 0-0 Champions League draw against 10-man Valencia during the week.

Stuttgart's four-match league winning streak ended with a 2-1 defeat at home to Dortmund. The win also ended a six-match winless string for their opponents and should help coach Thomas Doll keep his job for now.

Croatian Mladen Petric scored the winner 11 minutes from time, his seventh goal of the season. Nelson Valdez had put Dortmund in front in the 11th minute before Portugal's Fernando Meira headed in the equaliser in the 35th minute.

Wolfsburg twice lost the lead as they were pegged back for an entertaining 2-2 draw by Eintract Frankfurt.

Wolfsburg led with goals from Christian Gentner and Edin Dzeko but extended their winless run to four matches.

Chris got the first equaliser on a Simon Jentzsch blunder, prompting coach Felix Magath to replace his goalkeeper at halftime with Andre Lenz. Michael Fink got the second equaliser four minutes after Wolfsburg went in front.

Reuters