Hamburg SV striker Mladen Petric hit a wonder goal to fire his side back to the top of the Bundesliga and help beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1 on Saturday.
The Croatian star took a neat return pass from Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia and drilled his shot past Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann from outside the penalty area on 30 minutes as Hamburg dominated the match.
Elia then netted a goal of his own on 58 minutes, but Stuttgart threatened to force their way back into the game when Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak pulled a goal back on 62 minutes.
PHOTO: EPA
Hamburg’s former Bayern Munich midfielder Ze Roberto put the matter beyond doubt in injury-time when he fired home to give his side their fourth straight league win.
Hamburg lead the Bundesliga on goal difference from Bayer Leverkusen.
Earlier, Germany teammates Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez both scored as Bayern Munich moved up to fourth in the Bundesliga after a 5-1 win at Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern hit back from conceding an early goal as Gomez bagged a first-half equalizer, before Schweinsteiger put his side ahead with a well-taken solo effort.
French midfielder Franck Ribery then slotted home a free-kick before teenager Thomas Mueller netted twice in the final 20 minutes to fire Bayern up the table.
Defending champions Wolfsburg are facing something of a crisis after they were beaten 3-2 by league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, having had goalkeeper Diego Benaglio sent off.
Benaglio was shown a straight red for fouling Leverkusen’s Eren Derdiyok just outside the area on 32 minutes, but the Swiss striker was later shown a second yellow to earn himself a red card on 53 minutes.
Benaglio’s dismissal led to Germany midfielder Simon Rolfes hitting Leverkusen’s first goal on 38 minutes, before converting a 52nd minute penalty.
His national teammate Stefan Kiessling hit the third, before Wolfsburg fought back with goals from Zvjezdan Misimovic and Grafite, but it was too little, too late.
Eintracht Frankfurt are up to third thanks to their 2-0 win over Freiburg. Hoffenheim are up to fifth after their 3-0 win at home to VfL Bochum, while Mainz moved into sixth after shocking Hertha Berlin 2-1 at home.
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