Bayern climb back to the summit

By Mark Bennett

FC Bayern München reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 3-1 win against FC Hansa Rostock. It was an unconvincing performance from Felix Magath's UEFA Champions League contenders, but the victory ensured they climbed back in to top spot on goal difference from FC Schalke 04, who travel to 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday.

Makaay back
Bayern, who welcomed striker Roy Makaay back from a thigh injury, found themselves a goal down on 16 minutes after Uwe Möhrle outjumped Lucio to give the visiting side the lead. But the Brazilian international made up for his mistake five minutes from the break when he put Bayern back on level terms.

Bayern stutter
Bayern finally took control of the match after the interval and Claudio Pizarro gave them the lead 25 minutes from the end. Michael Ballack had the final say when he scored from the penalty spot a minute from time, putting a gloss on an otherwise lacklustre Bayern performance.

Klasnic strikes
Werder Bremen moved up into third place with a 2-1 win at 1. FC Nürnberg. Two first-half goals from Ivan Klasnic put Bremen in command, but the defending German champions had to hang on towards the end after Stefan Kießling pulled a goal back for Nürnberg 20 minutes from the end. Bremen can be knocked out of third place if VfB Stuttgart win their home game against SC Freiburg on Sunday.

Hamburg stumble
Bremen's local rivals Hamburger SV dropped three vital points in the battle for a European place as they slipped to a 3-2 home defeat against BV Borussia Dortmund. Ewerthon got the decisive goal five minutes from the final whistle after Tomáš Rosický and Lars Ricken had scored for Dortmund and Collin Benjamin and Stefan Beinlich had hit the target for Hamburg.

Marx double
Hertha BSC Berlin and Bayer 04 Leverkusen also secured important wins in their attempts to qualify for next season's UEFA Cup. Hertha beat DSC Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 with Thorben Marx scoring twice, while goals from Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker and Andriy Voronin gave Bayer a 2-0 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Bochum win
Third-bottom VfL Bochum 1848 thrashed VfL Wolfsburg 5-1 thanks to two goals from Edu, but VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach's wait for their first away win of the season will continue after slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Hannover 96.