Voronin restores healthy lead for Hertha

Andriy Voronin's goal sent Hertha BSC Berlin four points clear at the Bundesliga summit once more as the capital side beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0, while champions FC Bayern München returned to second place with a 3-0 success at VfL Bochum 1848.

Voronin form
VfL Wolfsburg closed to within a point with their 4-3 victory over FC Schalke 04 on Friday, but Hertha stretched clear again courtesy of on-loan striker Voronin, who buried his eleventh goal in 20 league outings this term after 50 minutes. Their closest challengers now are Bayern, for whom Zé Roberto (32), Philipp Lahm (60) and Martín Demichelis (90) were on target to lift the UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists ahead of Wolfsburg on goal difference, with the hosts reduced to ten men after Marc Pfertzel was sent off on 48 minutes. Leaders at the winter break, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim missed the chance to keep pace with the chasing duo as they drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hannover resolve
Hannover 96 and BV Borussia Dortmund also played out a stalemate, but there was nothing dull about their meeting as the two sides registered four goals apiece. An Alexander Frei penalty and a Florian Kringe strike gave ninth-placed Dortmund a two-goal lead after 27 minutes, and despite Jiří Štajner (42) and Arnold Bruggink (48) levelling the scores, Kringe (62) and Frei (65) then put the visitors back in front before Mike Hanke (80) and a Mikael Forssell penalty (83) salvaged a point for 13th-placed Hannover. Elsewhere, DSC Arminia Bielefeld climbed to 14th by triumphing 1-0 at basement side Karlsruher SC, while VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach boosted their survival bid by winning 4-2 at 1. FC Köln.