Delivery man Diego boosts Bremen

Diego provides
Leverkusen went ahead through a Paul Freier penalty before Diego took over, setting up Miroslav Klose for the equaliser in the 26th minute and then outpacing three defenders to cross for Hugo Almeida’s simple winner 13 minutes from time. Leverkusen were unlucky not to get something from the match after contributing so much of the attacking play, but Stefan Kiessling’s misses were to prove costly for the visitors. It was a second victory from two games for UEFA Champions League side Bremen, after Diego struck one goal and set up another two in their 4-2 victory over Hannover 96 on the opening weekend.

Unbeaten start
Bremen are joined on maximum points after two games by 1. FC Nürnberg, who beat VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 thanks to Markus Schroth’s winner on Friday. The only other side with hopes of keeping their 100 per cent record are FC Bayern München, who travel to VfL Bochum 1848 on Sunday. Hamburger SV look a long way short of the form that helped them challenge Bayern for the title last season and they had to settle for a second successive draw as they were held 2-2 by FC Energie Cottbus. Boubacar Sanogo gave Hamburg the lead in the 38th minute but David Jarolim's handball allowed Vlad Munteanu to equalise from the spot eleven minutes after the break. Sergiu Radu put promoted Cottbus ahead in the 69th minute by finding the net from the tightest of angles, but Hamburg were back level two minutes later when Daniel Ziebig deflected the ball into his own net. Hamburg had Guy Demel sent off nine minutes from time.

Schalke rally
UEFA Cup qualifiers FC Schalke 04 had to play for more than an hour with only ten men after Mladen Krstajić was sent off in the 29th minute, but they still managed to claim their first win of the new campaign thanks to a header by Dario Rodriguez in a 1-0 victory at TSV Alemannia Aachen. Hertha BSC Berlin enjoyed the best result of the day as they recorded a 4-0 home win against Hannover 96, who had Michael Tarnat sent off. Marko Pantelić scored twice for Hertha, with the other goals coming from Pal Dardai and Patrick Ebert, while Yildiray Basturk had a penalty saved by Robert Enke late on. BV Borussia Dortmund dominated against 1. FSV Mainz 05 but could only draw 1-1, while VfL Wolfsburg earned a 0-0 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.