Five-star Hoffenheim hit Bundesliga summit

Promoted side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim returned to the Bundesliga summit on Saturday courtesy of a stunning 5-2 comeback win at Hannover 96, while champions FC Bayern München got back to winning ways with a late 1-0 victory at Karlsruher SC.

Hannover goals
Lowly Hoffenheim have been a revelation this season, and with leaders Hamburger SV entertaining FC Schalke 04 on Sunday, Ralf Rangnick's young side knew victory would take them top on goal difference. Luis Gustavo Dias set them on their way with the opener after 36 minutes, but Hannover threatened to spoil the visitors' afternoon after Bastian Schulz equalised three minutes into the second half and Jirí Stajner gave them a 64th-minute lead. Hoffenheim were not to be denied, however, and launched a blistering fightback, with Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke pulling the teams level on 71 minutes and Sejad Salihović firing them ahead just two minutes later. Demba Ba then found the back of the net with ten minutes to go and Vedad Ibišević added a fifth three minutes after that, before Arnold Bruggink saw red for the hosts in the 85th minute.

Stuttgart stumble
VfB Stuttgart could have joined Hoffenheim at the top, but instead slipped to sixth after Gojko Kačar struck two minutes from time to give Hertha BSC Berlin a 2-1 home success. That result lifted Hertha to fourth, one spot behind Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who celebrated a 2-0 triumph at basement outfit Eintracht Frankfurt. Fifth spot now belongs to VfL Wolfsburg, 4-1 winners at home against DSC Arminia Bielefeld, but there was no race up the table for Bayern, on the other hand, despite Miroslav Klose grabbing the only goal of their game at Karlsruhe in the 87th minute. It was a first win in four league outings for Jürgen Klinsmann's men, who host ACF Fiorentina in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but they remain eleventh and lost striker Luca Toni to injury in the first half.

Exciting draw
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen geared up for Wednesday's trip to Panathinaikos FC with an exciting 3-3 home draw against BV Borussia Dortmund, while 1. FC Köln beat FC Energie Cottbus 1-0.