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BUNDES LIGA: Toni brace sends Bayern second

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Michael Rensing, center, grabs the ball in front of Cologne’s Milivoje Novakovic, left, while being impeded by his teammate Lucio in their German Bundesliga match at the RheinEnergie Stadium in Cologne, Germany, on Saturday. PHOTO: EPA

Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni’s second-half double in Cologne fired defending champions Bayern Munich up to second in the Bundesliga on Saturday as Hamburg took over the lead.

Bayern Munich’s Toni headed home from Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick in the 53rd minute, then hit a superb strike on the hour, before substitute Lukas Podolski scored an injury-time goal to seal a 3-0 win at Cologne. The win shot Bayern up from seventh to second in the table as they warmed-up for their opening Champions League clash on Wednesday night against Steaua Bucharest in Romania with their second consecutive league win.

But coach Jurgen Klinsmann admitted his side had been nervous.

“I told the players at halftime they had to remain calm,” the ex-Germany coach said. “For us, it was important we got a victory, because of Wednesday night’s Champions League game. I was very pleased with Lukas Podolski’s goal, he is on the right path.”

The goal against his old club had added importance for 23-year-old Podolski who has scored 30 goals for Germany, but cannot command a place in Bayern’s first team having spent most of last year on the bench.

But the match was over shadowed by news a 47-year-old fan had died during the game in the west stand at Cologne’s Rhein Energie Stadion. The cause of death was not known.

Having started the day in second position, Hamburg came from 2-0 down against 10-man Bayer Leverkusen to seal a dramatic 3-2 win that put them top.

“We made too many errors at the start, which must not happen again,” Hamburg coach Martin Jol said. “But I am pleased with the fight back, the goal we scored before halftime was very important.”

Hamburg trailed 2-0 early on thanks to goals by Bayer’s Tranquillo Barnetta and Patrick Helmes. But a goal from Hamburg’s Peru striker Jose Paolo Guerrero on 36 minutes put the home team back in the game, before former Germany defender Manuel Friedrich was sent off for a second yellow card three minutes later.

Hamburg were level on 51 minutes when Croatia striker Ivica Olic equalized, before Swiss striker Mladen Petric hit the all-important winner on 72 minutes.

Nine-man Schalke 04 lost their heads and their place at the top of the table as they slid down to third after drawing 3-3 with neighbors Borussia Dortmund.

The Royal Blues had two players sent off as Dortmund fought back from 2-0 down at halftime.

Schalke had got off to a flying start when Peru striker Jefferson Farfan converted a penalty on 20 minutes to make a mark on his debut. Brazilian midfielder Rafinha doubled the advantage on 39 minutes when he slotted home a pass from Germany defender Heiko Westermann.

But Dortmund rallied when defender Neven Subotic headed home Alexander Frei’s corner kick on 67 minutes and Swiss striker Frei rifled home a shot three minutes later to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes left.

Schalke lost their composure as Germany defender Christian Pander was shown a second yellow card on 73 minutes for a bad tackle. He was joined four minutes later by fellow defender Fabian Ernst for a reckless tackle and with just a minute left, Frei converted a penalty that sealed the dramatic result and put Dortmund fourth in the table.

Werder Bremen picked up their first win of the season with three late goals to seal a 3-0 win at home to Energie Cottbus.

VfL Wolfsburg scored goals in the first and last minutes to seal a 2-2 draw in the German capital at Hertha Berlin.

Also on Saturday, VfB Stuttgart were held to a 0-0 draw at Hoffenheim.

German Bundesliga

TEAM P GD PTS

1 Hamburg 4 4 10

2 Bayern Munich 4 6 8

3 Schalke 04 4 4 8

4 Borussia Dortmund 4 2 8

5 VfB Stuttgart 4 2 7

6 TSG Hoffenheim 4 1 7

7 Bayer Leverkusen 4 3 6

8 Wolfsburg 4 1 6

9 Werder Bremen 4 2 5

10 Hertha Berlin 4 -1 5

11 Cologne 4 -2 4

12 Borussia M’gladbach 3 -2 3

13 Karlsruhe 3 -2 3

14 Arminia Bielefeld 3 -2 2

15 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 -2 2

16 VfL Bochum 3 -2 1

17 Hannover 96 3 -5 1

18 Cottbus 4 -7 1


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