Cool Hoffenheim reclaim Bundesliga top as Leverkusen freeze

Cool Hoffenheim reclaim Bundesliga top as Leverkusen freezeHamburg  - TSG Hoffenheim kept their cool in a heated Cologne atmosphere to reclaim the Bundesliga lead from Bayer Leverkusen who were caught out cold in Bielefeld on saturday.

As winter weather hit Germany, league top scorer Vedad Ibisevic struck twice and fed Demba Ba for the other as promoted Hoffenheim won 3-1 in Cologne in a tense match which both teams ended with 10 men.

Leverkusen lost 2-1 at lowly Arminia Bielefeld, their first defeat since October 4. Second half substitute Daniel Halfar fed Artur Wichniarek for the first and headed the second for the hosts.

Hoffenheim top the bill with 31 points to lead by three points from Leverkusen and champions Bayern Munich, who defeated bottom club Energie Cottbus 4-1. Hertha Berlin are also in the frame with 27 points from a 3-2 win at VfL Bochum.

Cologne beat Hoffenheim in both games last season in the second division, but Hoffenheim got their revenge on Saturday in another fighting spirit display added to the teams' skill.

Ba notched his seventh goal of the season off a feed from Ibisevic in the 31st as Cologne called in vain for offside.

The hosts were even more furious when Kevin McKenna was dismissed for a sliding tackle in the 53rd. Hoffenheim were also down to 10 men three minutes later when Luiz Gustavo was dismissed as well.

But the visitors were unimpressed and went up 2-0 in the 67th from Ibisevic on the counter. Cologne's hopes were revived by Petit in the 78th before Ibisevic got his 16th goal of the season to wrap up the team's 10th win in 14 top flight matches.

"It was a great performance. I am happy to be in this team," said Ibisevic, who named his fifth double of the season "not normal."

Leverkusen finally ran out of luck in snowy Bielefeld, who left the drop zone with their second season win.

Wichniarek opened the scoring in the 54th off Halfar's pass and Halfar wrapped up matters in the 67th with a header after Leverkusen failed to clear a corner kick. Patrick Helmes scored for Leverkusen in the 78th but the visitors then had sascha Dom sent off late.

"We dominated the match but gifted Bielefeld two easy goals," said Leverkusen captain Simon Rolfes.

Munich were on top of hapless Cottbus from the start but it took a wakeup call to finally find the net as the visitors took a surprise lead from Erwin Skela's freekick sailed past the entire Munich defence for a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.

Franck Ribery curled home a freekick in the 29th with his brand new pink shoes and Martin Demichelis headed Munich in front 2-1 in the 38th. Strikers Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni added the other goals after the break as Munich got the morale-booster they added ahead of their next dates in Leverkusen and against Hoffenheim.

"The team reacted well to the deficit and scored quickly. Now we are ready for the matches against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim," said Munich general manager Uli Hoeness.

Elsewhere, Halil Altintop grabbed a double as Schalke 04 defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1.

Grafite and Edin Dzeko also struck twice each in VfL Wolfsburg's 4-1 over slumping 2007 champions VfB Stuttgart which saw two big blunders from Stuttgart's former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

Eintracht Frankfurt routed Hanover 96 4-0 while on Friday visiting Borussia Dortmund won 1-0 at free-falling SC Karlsruhe. SV Hamburg host Werder Bremen in a northern German duel on Sunday. (dpa)

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