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Hertha Berlin edge Borussia Dortmund to top Bundesliga

Hertha Berlin took the lead in the Bundesliga on Saturday, but were overshadowed by Werder Bremen's entertaining 4-1 win against VfB Stuttgart.

Hertha Berlin edged Borussia Dortmund 3-2 to move a point ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt and favorite Bayern Munich, who played Karlsruhe yesterday.

Bremen's home win against defending champion Stuttgart matched the two sides that play the league's most attractive soccer -- and the game lived up to the billing, with the teams getting standing ovations from the 39,000 spectators at Weser Stadium.

Hugo Almeida set the pace in his first start for Bremen, scoring in the third and fourth minutes as the two teams combined for four goals in the first 15 minutes of play.

The chances never stopped, and it looked like Stuttgart could turn the match around until Diego's 89th-minute deflected shot sealed Bremen's win.

"Both teams have a good football philosophy, they aren't afraid to attack and we should be thankful," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said. "I think we have to compliment both teams -- it was fun to watch them."

Almeida opened the scoring with a rising shot from 30m past Stuttgart goalkeeper Rafael Schaefer.

A minute later, the Portuguese forward beat Schaefer again with a low shot to the opposite post after some clever Bremen passing.

Mario Gomez pulled one back for Stuttgart in the 13th as an offside trap backfired, but Boubacar Sanogo headed in a third goal for Bremen just two minutes later.

Stuttgart fell to 12th place while Bremen moved to seventh, just two points off the lead. Both teams hoped to pull out of early season slumps with a win.

"The way our defense played isn't worthy of a German champion," Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said. "It was clear that the team that lost would be in a crisis -- and that is us."

Roberto Hilbert's shot in the 51st minute shot hit the left post for Stuttgart, and Gomez came close at least four times.

Diego's 59th-minute bicycle kick skimmed the crossbar, drawing the Brazilian's second standing ovation. The first came before the game, when it was announced he had extended his contract a year.

Berlin took the Bundesliga lead for the first time since Oct. 1 last year and ended Dortmund's three-game winning streak, which included a 3-0 rout of Bremen last week.

"We are on the right path, but won't put pressure on ourselves, that can only come from outside," Berlin defender Arne Friedrich said.

Berlin's goals came from Marko Pantelic in the 43rd, Lucio in the 54th and Solomon Okoronkwo in the 76th. Mladen Petric scored both goals for Dortmund, in the 31st and 88th.

Schalke came off a 1-0 Champions League loss to Valencia on Tuesday as it faced second-placed Arminia Bielefeld.
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