Bremen hit the heights in Germany

A 2-1 win against Hamburger SV sent Werder Bremen to the top of the Bundesliga table while a 3-0 away win lifted Bayer 04 Leverkusen up to fourth place.

Bremen triumph
Having won 3-2 against Real Madrid CF in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, Bremen took the lead after 15 minutes through former Hamburg striker Boubacar Sanogo, who beat Frank Rost with a crisp shot from Jurica Vranjes' cross. Hamburg levelled after 61 minutes as Rafael van der Vaart lobbed an attempted Christian Vander clearance back over the Bremen goalkeeper, but Rost was beaten again three minutes later as a Petri Pasanen cross was deflected past him by defender Vincent Kompany. Bremen now top the table with 33 points but will go second if FC Bayern München beat DSC Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.

Leverkusen triumph
Elsewhere, goals from Carsten Ramelow, Tranquillo Barnetta and Sergej Barbarez saw Leverkusen earn a 3-0 win at Hertha BSC Berlin, while champions VfB Stuttgart lost 2-1 at home against BV Borussia Dortmund. Nelson Valdez gave Dortmund the lead, and while Fernando Meira struck back before the interval, Mladen Petrić grabbed the winner with 12 minutes to go. A Marcelo Bordon goal saw FC Schalke 04 beat VfL Bochum 1848 1-0, struggling FC Energie Cottbus won 2-0 against Karlsruher SC while VfL Wolfsburg were held to a 2-2 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt.

Three late goals in a four-minute spell saw Hannover 96 break FC Hansa Rostock's resistance in Friday's game in the Bundesliga and move up to sixth place.

Quick treble
Frank Fahrenhorst broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute with his first goal of the season, heading home after Szabolcs Huszti's free kick was deflected off the Rostock wall. Germany striker Mike Hanke tapped in two minutes later after goalkeeper Stefan Wächter failed to hold on to a long-range effort from Gaetan Krebs and Jiří Štajner made it 3-0 a minute later when he knocked in a cross from Iran's Vahid Hashemian. Defeat leaves Rostock just above the relegation zone in 15th place.