Hamburg  - Hertha Berlin on Saturday moved back to the top of the German Bundesliga after beating last-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1.

The club from the capital benefited from Hoffenheim's goalless draw at Borussia Dortmund, that left the surprise team in the league, who are playing in their first season in the top flight on 41 points - two behind Hertha.

Goals by Andrey Voronin and Pal Dardai gave Berlin a comfortable half-time lead, but after Arne Friedrich brought down Marko Marin in the area and Michael Bradley scored from the spot in the 69th minute, Hertha had a tough task on their hands to hold on to their lead.

In Dortmund, Hoffenheim and the home side both ended the game with t10 men after referee Peter Gagelmann rather harshly sent off Tobias Weis and Sebastian Kehl in the second half.

Bayer Leverkusen failed to close the gap on the leaders going down 1-0 at struggling Hanover 96, with the only goal of the game being scored by Arnold Bruggink, while Schalke 04 managed a 2-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt that sees them go to 34 points and keeps them challenging for an UEFA Cup place.

At the wrong end of the table, VfL Bochum twice came from behind to beat Energie Cottbus 3-2 to move to 14th in the table, while the visitors move down into the relegation zone in 16th.

On Sunday, SV Hamburg could move to the top of the table with a victory at home in the northern Germany derby against VfL Wolfsburg, while Bayern Munich are away to Werder Bremen.

The final game on Sunday sees VfB Stuttgart travel to Karslruhe SC.

On Friday Cologne and Arminia Bielefeld played to a 1-1 draw. (dpa)