Bremen break for home

SV Werder Bremen extended their lead in the Bundesliga to nine points with a hard-earned 3-2 victory against 1. FC Köln while nearest challengers FC Bayern München were held 3-3 at home by FC Hansa Rostock.

Comfortable cushion
Bremen seemed to be on course for a comfortable win after establishing a three-goal lead in the first half, with Brazilian striker Ailton scoring twice and French playmaker Johan Micoud getting the other.

Köln comeback
However, the bottom club struck back in the second half, with defender Oliver Schroeder and midfield player Dirk Lottner both striking to reduce the deficit, before Köln were reduced to ten men after Alexander Voigt collected a second booking.

Lead lost
Meanwhile in Munich, Bayern led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from midfield player Jens Jeremies and Dutch international striker Roy Makaay. However, Hansa also mounted a second-half comeback, with goals from Martin Max and Magnus Arvidsson bringing the visitors level.

Makaay spot on
Midfield player Thomas Rasmussen then put Hansa in front, but Bayern managed to salvage a draw 14 minutes from time when Makaay scored his second of the match from the penalty spot.

Leverkusen lifted
The sides who began the day in third and fourth place are both in action at home on Sunday, as VfB Stuttgart play TSV 1860 München and VfL Bochum 1848 take on VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bayer 04 Leverkusen took advantage of Bochum's inactivity to move into fourth place thanks to a 4-2 victory against VfL Wolfsburg .

Early advantage
Dimitar Berbatov and Marko Babic gave Leverkusen an early two-goal lead and, although Marko Topic halved the deficit midway through the first half, Bernd Schneider restored the two-goal margin before half-time. Franca made it 4-1 three minutes past the hour, leaving Diego Klimowicz to score a late consolation.

Schalke setback
FC Schalke 04 missed the chance to join Leverkusen on 39 points as they were defeated 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt, with Ioannis Amanatidis, Ervin Skela and Alexander Schur all on target. Meanwhile, BV Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg, with Roda Antar and Levan Tskitishvili on target for the home side and Dede and Lars Hemel responding for Dortmund.

Kaiserslautern cheer
Marian Hristov earned 1.FC Kaiserslautern a narrow victory at Hannover 96 despite the late dismissal of Aleksander Knavs, and goals in either half from Christian Rahn and Bernardo Romeo gave Hamburger SV a 2-0 success against Hertha BSC Berlin, who finished the match with nine men after Dick van Burik and Arne Friedrich were both sent off early in the second half.