Bayern open up ominous advantage

Luca Toni scored both goals for FC Bayern München to see off Bayer 04 Leverkusen and open up a seven-point lead at the Bundesliga summit due to Hamburger SV's 1-1 draw at VfL Wolfsburg in which both teams ended with nine men.

Toni double
Toni was on target after 17 and 59 minutes to increase his tally of league goal to 16 and ensure Bayern bounced back from last week's surprise defeat by FC Energie Cottbus. Although Dmitri Bulykin reduced the arrears seven minutes from time for third-placed Leverkusen, Ottmar Hitzfeld's side held on to stretch their advantage over Hamburg. 

Four red cards
Hamburg did look set for three points at Wolfsburg when defender Bastian Reinhardt gave them the lead after 14 minutes, but Danijel Ljuboja's effort within six minutes of the restart earned the home side a share of the points. Wolfsburg pair Alexander Madlung and Grafite and Hamburg duo Vincent Kompany and Joris Mathijsen were all dismissed in the last ten minutes.

Buoyant Stuttgart
With Werder Bremen and FC Schalke 04 in Sunday action at DSC Arminia Bielefeld and Hertha BSC Berlin respectively, champions VfB Stuttgart moved on to the shoulders of the top five with a 4-1 home victory against FC Hansa Rostock, all of the goals coming in the second half. Pável Pardo and Cacau gave Armin Veh's side a two-goal cushion by the 54th minute but Orestes reduced the deficit two minutes later. However goals inside the final three minutes from Mario Gómez and Yıldıray Baştürk sealed the points for Stuttgart.

All square
The remaining three matches all finished 1-1. BV Borussia Dortmund, who reached the German Cup final in midweek, drew with mid-table Karlsruher SC at home, while the bottom two MSV Duisburg and 1. FC Nürnberg, shared the spoils with Hannover 96 and VfL Bochum 1848 respectively.