Bundesliga
October 5, 2009
By all accounts, it wasn't pretty. Hertha, under its new coach Friedhem Funkel, took an early lead when team captain Arne Friedrich headed one in from the corner.
But it was all for naught as Hamburg evened things up in the 24th minute courtesy of Hertha defender Kaka, who headed it neatly over goalie Timo Ochs for an own goal. They then added another pair to make it 3-0 at the half-time whistle.
Hertha was playing without its injured goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny. And things got worse when Ochs left the game with a muscle tear leaving Hertha to defend the goal with 19-year old Sascha Burchert who was playing in only in his third Bundesliga game.
After just five minutes on the pitch, Burchert came out of the goal and David Jarolim knocked the ball in from 30 meters out.
Two minutes later, in what appeared to be an unbelievable replay, Burchert again ran out of his area and Ze Roberto picked up the clearance from inside the center circle and arced it into an empty net.
Hertha now languishes at the bottom of the table.
Werder stay in touch with leaders
Werder Bremen, in Sunday's second game, beat VfB Stuttgart 2-0 and climbed into the top four on the table.
A header from Peru striker Claudio Pizzaro in the third minute of the game put them up a goal and Aaron Hunt made it a pair when he scored Werder's second after the half.
Saturday's games
Leverkusen shot to the top of the table on Saturday, after demolishing Nuremburg. Meanwhile, Cologne held Bayern to a draw, Bochum tied with Wolfsburg, Mainz beat Hoffenheim and Hannover thrashed Freiburg.
Leverkusen are now level on points with Hamburg at the top of the standings after thrashing Nuremburg 4-0.
The first three goals fell in the first half with a free-kick from Toni Kroos, a penalty-shot by Simon Rolfes and a strike by Eren Derdiyok.
The Bundesliga's top scorer Stefan Kiessling made it four for Leverkusen midway through the second half, to the joy of the home side's fans.
Bayern frustrated
Cologne managed to hold Bayern Munich to a scoreless draw in their clash on Saturday.
Although Bayern appeared much the stronger side, the Bavarians were unable to convert any opportunities – including an 11th minute header by Bastian Schweinsteiger, which connected with the cross bar.
Bayern coach Van Gaal replaced some of his star players at half-time. Frenchman Franck Ribery was taken off for Danijel Pranjic and Mario Gomez brought on to replace Jose Ernesto Sosa, but all to no avail for the side which is trailing at seventh in the rankings.
Wolfsburg moves to seventh
Defending champions Wolfsburg drop down to seventh place in the standings, even after coming back to draw 1-1 in Bochum.
Bochum took the lead in the 53rd minute with a header from Vahid Hashemian. However, the home side were soon reduced to 10 men when Shinji Ono was sent off for a penalty on Wolfsburg captain, Josue.
Dzeko took full advantage of the gap in numbers, heading home the equalizer for Wolfsburg in the 75th minute.
Mainz stop Hoffenheim
Mainz ended Hoffenheim's six-match undefeated streak, beating the home side 2-1, and are level on points with Hoffenheim in the table.
Mainz established their lead early, with Andreas Ivanschitz notching a goal in the sixth minute and Aristide Bance making it 2-0 just five minutes later.
Andreas Ibertsberger scored a consolation goal for Hoffenheim late in the second half.
Hanover run riot
Hanover also opened the scoring early when they thrashed Freiburg 5-2.
Chahed and Bruggink opened the scoring for Hanover with two goals in the first ten minutes.
Banovic pulled a point back for Freiburg before Hanover defender Haggui extended his team's lead to 3-1 shortly before halftime. The score remained that way until a string of goals in the final ten minutes of regulation time.
Schuster scored for Freiburg in the 82nd minute, but Ya Konan caught out the Freiburgers on the counter attack in the dying minutes of the game and then Hanover substitute Pinto scored against a demoralized side in extra time to make it 5-2.
Hanover climbed to eleventh in the standings, one point behind Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Dortmund get a needed boost
In Saturday's evening fixture, Dortmund defeated Moenchengladbach 1-0 to claim only their second victory of the season.
Scoring his first Bundesliga goal, Argentine forward Lucas Barrios sealed the match for Dortmund, advancing his team to 12th in the standings.
On Friday, Schalke beat Frankfurt to climb to third in the rankings.
av/nw/dpa/Reuters/AFP
Editor: Nigel Tandy