Newz Forum: SOCCER: German Bundesliga results 27/11/04

Bayern Munich moved five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon with a comfortable 4-2 win at the expense of Mainz.

A 3-2 defeat for Wolfsburg at home to Hertha Berlin gave Bayern more reason to celebrate but with Schalke and Stuttgart both in action on Sunday the gap will probably be reduced by the end of the weekend. In Munich, Bayern had already opened up a three-goal advantage at half-time with Ze Roberto setting up Claudio Pizarro for the opener after 14 minutes. Roy Makaay them made one for Mehmet Scholl before scoring the third on the stroke of the interval. Bayern struck the woodwork twice in the second half, but had to be content with only one extra goal with Michael Ballack heading home late on. Christof Babatz had seconds earlier grabbed what remained a mere consolation for the guests before Claudius Weber added a second with the last kick of the game.


Former Bundesliga leaders Wolfsburg suffered their second successive defeat as a Marcelinho hat-trick gave Hertha Berlin maximum points on Saturday and a 3-2 win. The home side, who conceded top spot last weekend following their defeat to Hamburg, looked to be heading for a point when goals from Pablo Thiam and Thomas Brdaric brought them back on level terms after Marcelinho had given Hertha a two-goal advantage. However, the Brazilian striker had the final say, completing his treble in the 74th minute to stretch the Berlin club's unbeaten run to five matches.


Champions Werder Bremen returned to winning ways on Saturday with what could prove to be a vital 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund. Goals from Frenchmen Johan Micoud and Valerien Ismael secured the points from Bremen who are in fifth, eight points behind Bayern.


Hansa Rostock continue to make Bundesliga history, albeit not in the way they want to. Their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen means they have now lost their first eight home matches of the season - their fifth reverse at the Ostseestadion set the record and now they are in a league of their own. Goals in either half from Dimitar Berbatov and Andrej Voronin saw Leverkusen to their sixth win of the season as Rostock continue the search for that first elusive home point.


Ioannis Amanatidis plundered goals in each half as Kaiserslautern brushed aside fellow strugglers Freiburg for a comfortable home 3-0 win. Amanatidis scored his first a minute before the interval and doubled the lead with an assured finish in the second half. Ferydoon Zandi wrapped up the victory three minutes from time with a cool finish to seal the win.


Struggling Bochum picked up a valuable win on Saturday as they saw off Nurnberg 3-1. A double from Vratislav Lokvenc and another goal from Raymond Kalla helped them clinch a deserved victory over mid-table Nurnberg. Even a 12th goal of the season for the in-form Marek Mintal could not get Nurnberg back into the match.


Hamburg continued their good recent run with a 3-1 victory at Borussia Monchengladbach, proving Dick Advocaat's honeymoon period in charge at the Borussia-Park outfit is well and truly over. Not even the 54th-minute dismissal of Hamburg defender Khalid Boulahrouz could help Advocaat's side as a brace from Sergej Barbarez and another goal from Stefan Beinlich lead 10-man Hamburg to victory. Joris van Hout scored for the hosts.

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