Hoffenheim motor on as Toni, Klose cheer Bayern

AFP - 29 November 2008 18:50

Hoffenheim´s Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo (L) is hugged by his teammate midfileder Tobias Weis during the Bundesliga football match of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim against DSC Arminia Bielefeld at the Carl-Benz stadium in Mannheim, southwestern Germany. Hoffenheim won 3-0.

BERLIN (AFP) - Surprise package Hoffenheim stayed top of the German Bundesliga after a 3-0 home win Saturday over Arminia Bielefeld but Bayern Munich stayed in hot pursuit with a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.

League top scorer Vedad Ibisevic, with the Bosnian's 17th of the season, and Carlos Eduardo scored inside the opening 11 minutes before Francisco Copado netted a last-minute spotkick to make it 11 league wins and 34 points from 15 games.

Bayern are second, three points adrift, after Luca Toni, with a header, and Miroslav Klose scored after the break to move them above a Bayer Leverkusen side who had stood third at start of play.

Third are Hertha Berlin, a point behind Bayern. The Berliners beat Cologne 2-1 on Friday.

Village side Hoffenheim, who have come from nowhere after consecutive promotions to sit atop their perch backed by multi-millionaire entrepreneur Dietmar Hopp, were paid a major compliment by Bielefeld coach Michael Frontzeck.

"They totally deserved the win. For me, Hoffenheim are the best team in Germany right now."

Hoffenheim counterpart Ralf Rangnick said his side were still finding their way at the top level but managing to stay consistent.

"That was a tough game but we have found a good level of consistency. If I had to criticise, then we might have scored a few more today," he told reporters.

For now Bayern must wait to see if their unexpected rivals slip up but the Bavarians' coach Jurgen Klinsmann said their earlier form problems are now behind them.

"I'm very happy with the win. We made a sticky start to the Bundesliga season - but now we're really on our way," said the former German national coach.

At the wrong end of the table, Energie Cottbus moved out of the drop zone after they notched only their third win of the campaign by claiming a 3-1 success at former giants Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Chelsea misfit Claudio Pizarro managed the individual exploit of the day with a hat-trick as his Werder Bremen thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on the River Weser.

Pizarro, on loan from Stamford Bridge, had bagged two by the 20th minute and then completed his treble in the 63rd minute, sandwiching a Diego penalty and clincher from Aaron Hunt.

The win moved Werder up to seventh, ahead of Schalke but still a point behind Borussia Dortmund, who could close to within a point of Leverkusen if they defeat strugglers Wolfsburg on Sunday at home.

Also Sunday, Schalke travel to Stuttgart hoping to cement European ambitions while Hamburg will do likewise at Bochum.

A win for Martin Jol's northerners would take them into the top four.

Hoffenheim continued their fairytale season after taking their goals tally to a remarkable 40 after Ibisevic fired home acrobatically for the opener on five minutes from a cross by Turk Selim Teber and Carlos Eduardo then ended a solo run with a clinical finish.

Copado then clinched matters with his penalty after Michael Lamey fouled Demba Ba.

Jurgen Klinsmann's Bayern meanwhile put one over Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Bayern man Bruno Labbadia, after Italian World Cup winner Toni netted his seventh in the league this season 12 minutes after the restart and then Klose celebrated his 250th career league appearance after good work by Frenchman Franck Ribery.

Bayern survived without German international forward Lukas Podolski, whom Cologne would like to re-sign.

Cologne general manager Michael Meier has indicated that Cologne "have a clear plan" as to how that might come about amid media talk of a possible transfer fee of 15 million euros for the unsettled striker who missed Saturday's game with a back complaint while Dutch midfielder Mark Van Bommel was also out through illness.