Bayern Munich stayed top of the Bundesliga despite being held to a surprise 0-0 home draw by strugglers Duisburg on Saturday as Werder Bremen were beaten for the first time since September.
Bayern's attack including midfielder Franck Ribery plus strikers Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni -- summer signings worth 49 million euros (US$71.8 million) -- could not break down 10-man Duisburg's defense, which has leaked 25 goals already this season.
Even though they had striker Mohammadou Idrissou sent off nine minutes from time, the draw moved Duisburg up to 16th in the league -- third from bottom -- and means Bayern now have a two-point lead at the top.
PHOTO: AP
Ten-man Bremen missed out on a golden chance to take over at the top after losing a seven-goal thriller at Hanover, their first defeat since they were humbled 3-0 by Dortmund in September.
The home side stormed into a 3-1 lead through a double strike from Mike Hanke and an own-goal from Bremen defender Frank Baumann before Swedish striker Markus Rosenberg won a penalty for Bremen.
Brazilian midfielder Diego converted to make it 3-2 at the break before Rosenberg netted his second goal to put the guests level, but Hanke showed a little bit of magic as the striker sealed his hat trick on 77 minutes.
Adding insult in injury time, Bremen had striker Hugo Almeida dismissed in the third minute of injury time as Hanover move up to fifth, while Bremen are second and Hamburg stay third after their 0-0 draw at home with bottom side Energie Cottbus.
"My team tried a little bit too hard and made a few too many errors," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said. "We began very well, but unfortunately did not maintain that and it just wasn't our day."
Defending champions VfB Stuttgart dominated VfL Wolfsburg at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium.
Romania striker Ciprian Marica headed home on 26 minutes before Brazilian striker Cacau stabbed home a cross just two minutes after the half-time break.
And German international midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger added a third on 86 minutes to seal the 3-1 win which keeps them eighth.
Schalke 04 drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt as 20-year-old midfielder Faton Toski scored his first Bundesliga goal for Eintracht.
Schalke's Heiko Westermann netted in the 77th minute to put his side level before Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis, who had a brush with the law in midweek after he was accused of assaulting a woman, scored in the 82nd minute.
But Schalke's blushes were spared when Westermann grabbed his second a minute from time as his side dropped back to seventh in the league.
There was a strange incident late in the game when Schalke substitute Carlos Grossmueller stormed off the bench, still in his tracksuit and bib, to argue with -- and eventually push over -- Frankfurt's Michael Thurk.
The referee showed the Schalke man an immediate red card.
Stanislav Sestak was Bochum's hero as he scored twice to seal their 2-2 draw at home to Karlsruhe.
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