Champions halt Stuttgart surge

By Mark Bennett

Champions Werder Bremen stopped VfB Stuttgart going top of the Bundesliga tonight, the visitors coming from behind to win 2-1 despite losing Ludovic Magnin to a red card.

Bremen comeback
Matthieu Delpierre headed the home side into the lead in first-half injury time and Bremen looked beaten when Magnin was dismissed midway through the second period. However, goals from Miroslav Klose and Nelson Valdez inside 120 seconds in the last 12 minutes prevented Stuttgart overtaking leaders VfL Wolfsburg and moved the title-holders into fourth place.

Stuttgart second
Stuttgart remained second despite the defeat, but Matthias Sammer's men are now level on points with FC Bayern München, who defeated Wolfsburg 2-0 on Tuesday.

Voronin lifts Leverkusen
Meanwhile, Bayer 04 Leverkusen had Andriy Voronin to thank for their 3-2 home win against DSC Arminia Bielefeld, the Ukrainian international's hat-trick lifting Leverkusen into eighth place. Delron Buckley had given the visitors a first-half lead, but Voronin struck twice after the restart to put Leverkusen ahead. Although Fatmir Vata equalised, Voronin sealed victory 12 minutes from time.

Barbarez shines
Elsewhere, Sergej Barbarez also scored three as Hamburger SV cruised to a 4-0 home success against SC Freiburg. High-flying 1. FSV Mainz 05 beat visiting FC Hansa Rostock 3-1 to go fifth, while FC Schalke 04 won 2-0 at 1. FC Nürnberg, who had Tomasz Hajto and Thomas Paulus sent off.