Van Buyten hits winner as Bayern go fifth

Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten made amends for his dismissal at Bordeaux in midweek by heading a late winner for Bayern Munich in a 2-1 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

The centre-back saw red in France last Wednesday in the 2-1 defeat to Bordeaux in the Champions League, but he made amends with a crucial 88th minute header as the German giants came from behind against Frankfurt.

Eintracht took the lead at Bayern’s Allianz Arena when midfielder Alexander Meier timed his run through Munich’s offside trap to perfection and latched onto a pass from Patrick Ochs on 60 minutes before firing home.

Bayern welcomed back play-maker Arjen Robben after three weeks out with a knee injury and the Dutchman marked his return with the equaliser.

After striker Mario Gomez won an aerial battle against Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, Robben pounced on the loose ball and slotted home on 70 minutes before van Buyten’s priceless goal which put Bayern in fifth place.

Hoffenheim moved up to sixth after enjoying an impressive 3-0 win at home to Nuremberg when defender Christian Eichner slotted home a dream goal from 30 metres out before striker Vedad Ibisevic hit their second after 38 minutes.

Then 19-year-old Argentinian striker Franco Zuculini, playing only this third Bundesliga game, unleashed a fierce shot from 20 metres out to add Hoffehneim’s third.

Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel may have been given a vote of confidence by his board last week, but his position looks increasingly precarious after his side lost 1-0 at Hanover – their third consecutive league defeat.

Ex-Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was pulled out of position by Dutch midfielder Arnold Jan Bruggink allowing Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan a simple tap in on 30 minutes.

Stuttgart hit the woodwork twice, but could not break Hanover’s defence.

Mainz moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win at Freiburg while Cologne were held 0-0 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

On Friday, German league leaders Leverkusen were held to a 1-1 draw at home to midtable Borussia Dortmund with ex-Germany defender Manuel Friedrich heading a second-half equaliser for the hosts.

With second-placed Hamburg playing Schalke 04 on Sunday, Leverkusen missed a chance to underline their status at the top of the table when they were forced to share the points at home to Dortmund.

The visitors got off to the best possible start when Argentinian striker Lucio Barrios scored his third goal in his last three league matches as he headed home from a Nelson Valdez cross on eight minutes.

Dortmund were cruising to their third consecutive league win before Leverkusen hit back in the 64th minute through Friedrich’s header into the bottom right-hand corner.