Bremen, Hamburg held, Hertha slip to another defeat

HAMBURG - Werder Bremen and SV Hamburg were held to draws, leaving Bayer Leverkusen three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

SV Hamburg conceded a late penalty in a 2-2 draw at Hanover, while Bremen were pegged 1-1 by visiting Borussia Dortmund.

At the bottom of the table, basement club Hertha Berlin slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Cologne.

Leverkusen, who thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 Friday, top the table on 26 points to extend their lead over Bremen and Hamburg.

Schalke 04, who drew 1-1 at Bayern Munich on Saturday remain fourth, a further point behind.

Midfielder Mesut Ozil put Bremen ahead over Dortmund with a first-time shot in the 36th minute after Aaron Hunt was given time to cross from the right.

Mid-table Dortmund levelled eight minutes after the break when goalkeeper Tim Wiese could only parry a Nelson Valdez shot and Argentina striker Lucas Barrios swooped to poke the ball over the line for his sixth goal in as many games.

“Both teams deserve compliments for a super game,” Bremen coach Thaomas Schaaf said.

“It was a hard-fought game played with pace. When you lead you want to bring it home. It’s something we’ve done enough this season -not today but in general the result was OK.”

Marcell Jansen and Eljero Elia were on target for Hamburg in the first half either side of a header by Hanover’s Didier Ya Konan in the northern German derby.

But Jiri Stajner converted a penalty two minutes from time after he was adjudged to have been blocked in the box by Tomas Rincon.

Hamburg players protested that rather than a foul on Stajner the striker had deliberately run into Rincon before falling.

“It wasn’t a penalty. I just stood there and he ran into me,” Rincon said.

Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia said: “I am really annoyed, also for the team who have been unfairly treated.”

In Berlin, Hertha’s woes continued when Milivoje Novakovic headed in a Lukas Podiolski free-kick 11 minutes from time. It was a 10th league defeat in 12 games for Hertha who are four points adrift of Bochum, while Cologne move up to 13th.