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Hamburg clung on at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win over Stuttgart.

Goals from Mladen Petric, Eljero Elia and Ze Roberto were enough for unbeaten Hamburg to see off Stuttgart and keep them ahead of Bayer Leverkusen on goal difference.

Hamburg grabbed the lead against the run of play when Petric beat Stuttgart keeper Jens Lehmann with a fierce drive from about 20 yards.

Hamburg, missing Paolo Guerrero and Collin Benjamin with ligament injuries, added another through Elia's long-range effort in the 58th minute.

Stuttgart pulled one back through Pavel Pogrebnyak four minutes later before Ze Roberto secured victory for Hamburg with a goal in added time.

"This club is alive," said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia. "It may be just the picture of this very moment but it is wonderful to see us top of the table. We showed a lot of patience today."

Leverkusen had put the leaders under pressure by repulsing a spirited comeback by champions VfL Wolfsburg to win 3-2 away.

Captain Simon Rolfes struck twice and Stefan Kiessling also scored before Wolfsburg, who had keeper Diego Benaglio sent off in the first half, battled back with goals from Zvjezdan Misimovic and a Grafite penalty.

Leverkusen also finished with 10 men but survived the final 10 minutes to get the points.

Leverkusen were cruising after opening up a 3-0 lead. Rolfes scored six minutes after Benaglio was sent off and he doubled their lead with a 52nd minute penalty.

Kiessling added a third even after Leverkusen were also left with 10 following the second yellow card for Eren Derdiyok.

Wolfsburg launched continuous attacks deep in the second half and grabbed two goals within four minutes. Despite a spirited final 10 minutes the hosts had to settle for their third straight defeat, leaving them in 10th place.

Bayern Munich were in sparkling form, crushing hosts Borussia Dortmund 5-1, with goals from Mario Gomez, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery before youngster Thomas Mueller scored two.

They moved up to fourth place on eight points, five points off the pace.

Bayern fell a goal behind after only 10 minutes through Mats Hummels, their former player, and were disappointing for much of the first half hour.

Gomez's equaliser on 36 minutes breathed hope into the team and Ribery's entry in the second half added the necessary pace.

The Frenchman immediately wreaked havoc, helping set up Schweinsteiger for the second goal in the 50th minute before adding a third himself with a curling free-kick.

Mueller, a day before his 20th birthday, struck twice late in the second half to complete the rout and their first win on the road this season.

Eintracht Frankfurt are up to third thanks to their 2-0 win over Freiburg.

Hoffenheim, the surprise package of last season, are up to fifth after their 3-0 win at home to Bochum, while Mainz moved into sixth after shocking Hertha Berlin 2-1 at home.

Mainz shocked Bayern earlier in the season and their Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance, who scored in the 2-1 win over Munich, hit the winner in the 85th minute.

AFP / Reuters