Feb 12th-14th : Leverkusen lead Munich by +1 goal difference

A round-up of the weekend's football in Germany.

Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Wolfsburg

Leaders Bayer Leverkusen were made to sweat against Wolfsburg before securing a 2-1 win at the BayArena.

Stefan Reinartz put the home team ahead in the 48th minute before an own goal from the luckless Andre Lenz doubled their advantage in the 68th minute.

A goal from Edin Dzeko 10 minutes from time had Leverkusen panicking, but they managed to hold on.

Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich moved back level with Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga and improved their goal difference in the process with a solid 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Mohamed Zidan put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute but Mark van Bommel equalised midway through the opening period.

Arjen Robben put Bayern ahead five minutes into the second half before Mario Gomez's goal ensured there is now only one goal between the leaders Leverkusen and Bayern at the top of the table.

Schalke 2-0 Cologne

Schalke moved to within three points of the top of the Bundesliga with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cologne at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Goals from Joel Matip and Jefferson Farfan secured the win as the Royal Blues prepare for a run of winnable fixtures that could decide their fate in the title chase with games against Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on the horizon.

Stuttgart 1-3 Hamburg

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his first goals for Hamburg to inspire his new club to a 3-1 win at in-form Stuttgart.

The veteran Holland striker joined the club from Real Madrid last month and, in only his second appearance, proved his quality as he stepped off the bench to score a match-winning double.

Marcus Berg had opened the scoring for the visitors after 23 minutes before Christian Trasch equalised 10 minutes after half-time.

Van Nistelrooy, who was given a brief debut in Hamburg's 3-3 draw with Cologne last week, was introduced in the 65th minute and 10 minutes later he was on target to open his account before firing in a second two minutes after that to ensure the win.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team              Pl  W D L Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  22 13-9-0 48:18  48 
Bayern Munich     22 14-6-2 48:19  48 
Schalke 04        22 13-6-3 33:15  45 
Hamburg SV        22 10-9-3 43:25  39 
Borussia Dortmund 22 10-6-6 31:29  36 
Werder Bremen     22  9-7-6 44:26  34 

Stumble It!

Leverkusen, Schalke, Bayern Munich and Hamburg all win to maintain status quo

Bayern Leverkusen 4-2 Mainz
Leverkusen recovered from going a goal down to lead 3-1 by the half-hour mark on their way to another home win and retaining their one ponit lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

Tim Hoogland put Mainz into a surprise lead after eight minutes, but Leverkusen hit back with goals from Michal Kadlec (15), Tranquillo Barnetta (19) and Toni Kroos (30).

Niko Bungert pulled one back for Mainz after 67 minutes but Eren Derdiyok settled home nerves with a fourth two minutes from time.

Bayern Munich 2-0 Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich moved to top of the Bundesliga table for a short while after winnig on Friday, notable becasue it was the first time Munich have led since May 2008.

Martin Demichelis slid home the first against Hoffenheim in the 35th minute before Miroslav Klose wrapped up victory four minutes from time to give Bayern Munich their fifth straight league win.

Schalke 1-0 Nurnberg
Kevin Kuranyi's grabbed the match winner early in the second half as Schalke beat Nurnberg 1-0 at home and continue their strong run.

Hamburg 2-0 Freiburg
Hamburg kept pace with the leaders with a solid 2-0 victory at home over Freiburg. Marcell Jansen opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Mladen Petric made it 2-0 after 55 minutes.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team              P   W D L  Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  18 10-8-0  39 15  38 
Schalke           18 11-4-3  27 13  37 
Bayern Munich     18 10-6-2  36 15  36 
Hamburg           18  9-7-2  36 19  34 
Borussia Dortmund 18  9-6-3  26 19  33 
Werder Bremen     18  7-7-4  32 17  28

Stumble It!