Hamburg breach Bayern stronghold

Germany's two UEFA Champions League contenders FC Bayern München and Werder Bremen both failed to win in the Bundesliga today as third-placed Hamburger SV gained ground on the top two.

Run ended
Felix Magath's Bayern side went down 2-1 at home to Hamburg, their first domestic defeat at their new Fußball Arena München after 13 consecutive wins. When Mehmet Scholl cancelled out Guy Demel's first-half goal seven minutes from time it looked as though the league leaders had earned themselves a point but with just a minute to go Dutch international Nigel de Jong scored his first goal for the visitors to consign Bayern to only their second Bundesliga defeat of the season, with Hamburg having won the reverse fixture between the two sides 2-0.

Bremen held
Torsten Frings gave Bremen the perfect start against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, scoring from the penalty spot after just three minutes. However, 2002 UEFA Champions League finalists Leverkusen fought back to earn a draw with an equaliser from Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov late in the first half. The defeat leaves Bremen eight points adrift of leaders Bayern and level with third-placed Hamburg on 50 points.

Schalke unbeaten
Fourth-placed FC Schalke 04 kept alive their hopes of making it into European football's premier club competition next season with a 2-1 win at Hannover 96. Hannover have been the surprise package of the season and are seventh in the standings, but were unable to end Schalke's unbeaten record under new coach Mirko Slomka as goals from Christian Poulsen and Zlatan Bajramović earned three valuable points.

Podolski boost
After 18 matches without a win bottom side 1. FC Köln picked up a much-needed victory with a 4-2 triumph at Hertha BSC Berlin. Lukas Podolski, a key player in Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann's FIFA World Cup plans, scored twice although despite the win Köln remain at the foot of the table, two points behind MSV Duisburg who lost 3-0 away to 1. FC Nürnberg.

Heavy snowfall
Elsewhere, BV Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw at home by 1. FSV Mainz 05 while 1. FC Kaiserslautern's match against VfB Stuttgart will be played on Tuesday after heavy snowfall forced its postponement. On Sunday, Eintracht Frankfurt entertain fellow strugglers VfL Wolfsburg and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach play host to DSC Arminia Bielefeld.