Wolfsburg survive late Borussia strike

Wolfsburg survive late Borussia strike

Wolfsburg survived a late rally by Borussia Monchengladbach to win 2-1 and stay on the tails of the Bundesliga's early pace-setters.

Alexander Madlung scored the opening goal in first-half injury time for the reigning champions and Christian Gentner made it 2-0 two minutes into second-half injury time. American midfielder Michael Bradley pulled a goal back for the visitors a minute later but the Wolves hung on.

The victory gives Armin Veh's side 16 points and leaves them fifth in the table.

In Sunday's other game, Borussia Dortmund jumped two places with a 2-0 victory in the Ruhr derby over Bochum.

Lucas Barrios and Neven Subotic scored the goals for Jurgen Klopp's side as they inflicted a first defeat on Bochum's caretaker-coach Frank Heinemann.

Diego Klimowicz hit the post for Bochum but they were outplayed by their hosts.

On Saturday, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen could not be separated in their top-of-the-table clash.

In a disappointing match, Tunay Torun had the best chance for Hamburg with a shot from eight yards which was cleared off the line by Gonzalo Castro.

The result leaves the teams level on 21 points, with Bayer on top with a slightly better goal difference.

Third-placed Schalke closed the gap to two points with a 2-1 victory at Stuttgart.

Ivan Rakitic fired the visitors in front after 24 minutes and although Cacau (73) equalised for Stuttgart, Kevin Kuranyi netted Schalke's second two minutes later.

Werder Bremen threw their name into the ring as title contenders with a 2-0 success at home to Hoffenheim, Claudio Pizarro and Per Mertesacker scoring in the first half.

Bayern Munich returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win at Freiburg. Thomas Muller broke the deadlock for the visitors shortly before the interval before a Cha Du-Ri own goal (69) doubled their lead.

Substitute Stefan Reisinger grabbed a late consolation for Freiburg.

Hertha Berlin's woes continued with a 3-0 loss at Nurnberg, their eighth league defeat in a row.

Daniel Gygax got the ball rolling for Nurnberg after 19 minutes with two goals from Albert Bunjaku putting the result beyond doubt.

A goal from Milivoje Novakovic was enough to see Cologne past Mainz, while Eintracht Frankfurt enjoyed their first home win of the season at the expense of Hannover.

Nikos Liberopoulos and Alexander Meier were on the scoresheet for Eintracht in the 2-1 win, with Jiri Stajner grabbing Hannover's goal.