Dortmund 2-0 Hertha
Stuttgart 0-0 Bayern
Hamburg 2-3 Monchengladbach
Nurnberg 2-2 Bremen
Cologne 0-1 Hannover
Wolfsburg 3-3 Mainz
Schalke 2-2 Leverkusen
Freiburg 0-1 Hoffenheim
Eintracht 2-1 Bochum
Hamburg lost while Leverkusen and Schalke drew with one another, but none of the other clubs could take advantage with draws very much the order of the day. Indeed, the big winners of the weekend were Hoffenheim whose win over Freiburg sees them up to fifth, just three points off the summit. Maicosuel's weighted, curling shot from the edge of the box just before the break was enough for the win. Schalke drew in similar circumstances to the previous week's point against Hamburg. Leverkusen ran into a two-goal lead through Toni Kroos, lovely drive from 20 yards, and an athletic header from Stefan Kiessling. Schalke left it late, Kevin Kuranyi smuggling one through a crowd in the goalmouth seven minutes from time and the comeback was completed with 88 minutes on the clock by Vicente Sanchez, beating Rene Adler to the ball and heading in. If the keeper had stayed on his line, he probably makes the save and Leverkusen win. He didn't. They didn't. Neither did Hamburg, beaten at home by Gladbach despite leading twice. Pitor Trochowski put Bruno Labbadia's side ahead on the quarter hour, but they'd turn round level as Marco Reus used his pace and delicate touch to outstrip the defence and lift it over Frank Rost. Ze Roberto restored the lead with a scorching free-kick, but Danté squared it up with a header from a corner quarter of an hour from time. Eight minutes from time, Rob Friend slid in for the winner.
Bremen were best placed to take advantage of the slips by the top two, but they too were held to a draw. It needed some late, late Aaron Hunt intervention to even get that after Nurnberg took a two-goal half-time lead. A defensive mix-up let Christian Eigler in for the first three minutes into the contest and Albert Bunjaku's header was ruled, correctly, to have crossed the line before being cleared. A combination of Hunt's head and shoulder propelled the ball into the goal 18 minutes from time for 2-1 and he squared it up in style two minutes into stoppages, chesting it down and volleying in one flowing move. Bayern couldn't find a way past Stuttgart, Mario Gomez coming as close as anybody while Wolfsburg were also held, at home to improving Mainz. Obafemi Martins, starting in place of the droppped Grafite, put the champions two up inside 20 minutes, heading the first in off Zvjezdan Misimovic's cross and linking up with Edin Dzeko for the second. It'd be level at half-time, Chadlj Amri given the freedom of the Wolves' penalty area before firing the first in and a wonderful free-kick from Andreas Ivanschitz levelling things up. Misimovic put Wolfsburg back in front, but Tim Hoogland was found with a great ball five minutes from the end and he poked past Diego Benaglio to split the points.
Hertha lost again. Dortmund were the beneficiaries of their generosity this week, Nuri Sahin hitting a penalty and Lucas Barrios making the game safe in the last minute leaving Hertha five points off safety already. Bochum are deep in it as well after defeat to Eintracht for whom Maik Franz scored at both ends. Caio opened the scoring with a vicious, swerving and dipping free-kick from half a mile out before Franz's own goal, a horrible, sliced attempt at a clearance. He made amends after the break, heading in at the right end from a corner. The relief was palpable with the lad almost in tears and generously responding to the crowd's support. With time and patience running out, Shinji Ono went all Jackie Chan with a couple of rash challenges. Both drew yellow cards and the Japanese international was duly sent off. Cologne are also not doing well and lost again. Goal shy in front of their own fans, they again drew a blank at the RheinEnergieStadion meaning Jan Rosenthal's effort on the half hour was enough to signal defeat.
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