BERLIN (AFP) - Werder Bremen strikers Markus Rosenberg and Ivan Klasnic struck to put their side level on points with leaders Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga to seal a 2-0 win at home to Nuremberg.
Rosenberg scored on the half hour mark before Klasnic's 82nd minute header to put Bremen on 40 points to match Bayern - who stay top by virtue of a superior goal difference.
The league leaders are at Hanover on Sunday.
After sacking their coach Hans Meyer at the start of the week, Nuremberg failed to make an impact in Bremen.
Meyer's replacement Thomas von Heesen had already lost his first game in charge when his side were beaten 1-0 by Benfica in Thursday night's UEFA Cup clash and his side are third from bottom and deep in the mire.
There was drama at bottom side Duisburg as Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger scored in the 92nd minute to seal a 3-2 Stuttgart win and deny the hosts their first success in five games.
Germany's player of the year Mario Gomez put his side 2-0 up as Stuttgart proved dominant early on.
He followed up a 16th-minute header with a superb strike four minutes from the break after a well-timed pass from Mexican midfielder Pavel Pardo
But Duisburg pulled level when Romanian striker Claudiu Niculescu netted a 49th minute free-kick and then Nigerian striker Manasseh Ishiaku put his side level to cause Stuttgart coach Armin Veh some anxiety on 57 minutes.
It was only Hitzlsperger's strike which saved his side's blushes and keep his side tenth.
Hansa Rostock had former Germany midfielder Christian Rahn to thank as his 76th minute header gave his side three precious points at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and the win takes them up to 14th.
And Hertha Berlin picked up three points as Brazilian striker Raffael struck in the 93rd minute to light up a dull tie at Olympic Stadium in Germany's capital.
There was a battle royal at Karlsruhe as German internationals Simon Rolfes and Steffan Kiessling put Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 up midway through the second half.
But the home side fought back with second-half goals by strikers Sebastian Freis and Joshua Kennedy put them level.
The draw leaves Bayer in third but means there is now a five point gap between themselves and the top pairing of Bayern and Bremen.
Energie Cottbus' most famous fan - German chancellor Angela Merkel - was in the stands in the former East German city to see her side lose 1-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund after she was presented as an honoury fan before kick-off.
Croatian international Mladen Petric scored as early as the eighth minute and added a second with a header five minutes from time and the result leaves Energie Cottbus second from bottom with Dortmund in 12th.
On Friday, Schalke 04 were shocked at home when they suffered their first defeat in seven games as Brazilian striker Grafite scored two late goals to give Wolfsburg a 2-1 win.
Schalke, who drop back to fourth, are in Champions League action on Tuesday when they take on Porto in the first-round knock-out stage.
