Bremen join Bayern at Bundesliga summit

Werder Bremen joined FC Bayern München at the top of the Bundesliga at the halfway stage of the season after a 5-2 defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Bayern's 0-0 draw at Hertha BSC Berlin.

Klasnić double
Werder fell behind early on to a seventh-minute Tranquillo Barnetta opener but goals from Ivan Klasnić (30, 63), Diego (50), Clemens Fritz (58) and Markus Rosenberg (69) helped Thomas Schaaf's side make up for their UEFA Champions League exit in midweek. Although Stefan Kiessling grabbed a late consolation for the hosts, Bayern's goalless draw in Berlin ensured Werder a share of top spot over the winter break with 36 points from 17 matches.

Hamburger held
Hamburger SV failed to take advantage of Bayern's latest setback as they had to scrap for a 1-1 draw at Karlsruher SC, which left them four points behind the leaders in third place. Croatian international Ivica Olić struck in the last minute to cancel out Christian Timm's 46th-minute effort.

Dortmund humbled
Elsewhere, VfL Wolfsburg humbled BV Borussia Dortmund 4-0 thanks to goals by Marcel Schäfer (8), Ricardo Costa (11), Christian Gentner (59) and Edin Dzeko (78), champions VfB Stuttgart lost 2-0 at DSC Arminia Bielefeld while Gerard Asamoah's opener (14) and a Marco Engelhardt own goal (35) helped FC Schalke 04 move up to fifth place with a 2-1 success against 1. FC Nürnberg.