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Toni´s goals bring Bayern to second, Hamburg go top

SoccerNews in Bundesliga 13 Sep 2008

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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's Toni headed home from Bastian Schweinsteiger's free-kick in the 53rd minute and showed his finishing touch with a superb strike on the hour mark before Lukas Podolski came off the bench to hit an injury-time goal and 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.

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

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 equalised before Swiss striker Mladen Petric hit the all-important winner on 72 minutes to put his side top.

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 neighbours Borussia Dortmund.

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

Schalke got off to a flying start when Peru striker Jefferson Farfan – making his debut for the Royal Blues – converted a penalty on 20 minutes.

And 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 from his deadly left foot 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.

And 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 which 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.

And 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.

On Sunday, Hanover entertain Borussia Moenchengladbach while Arminia Bielefeld are at VfL Bochum.

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