Wolfsburg stayed three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, whilst Bayern Munich moved into second place.
Wolfsburg stay three clear; Bayern win
Wolfsburg stayed three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, whilst Bayern Munich moved into second place.
Wolfsburg looked as if they were going to be held to a goalless draw at home by
Hoffenheim - but then Bosnian star Edin Dzeko took over.
He opened the scoring on 66 minutes and then completed a (74 & 78) 12-minute hat-trick in sensational fashion.
Grafite then scored a late penalty to make it 4-0.
With Hertha Berlin not playing until Sunday,
Bayern took advantage as they climbed into second spot with a hard fought 2-1 win over second from bottom
Borussia Moenchengladbach at the Allianz Arena.
Bastian Schweinsteiger put Bayern ahead on 33 minutes, but moments later Borussia were level through Filip Daems's penalty.
But the winner came just before the break when Hamit Altintop pounced.
Stuttgart also moved above Hertha, but they could only claim a 2-2 draw at lowly
Arminia Bielefeld.
Stuttgart twice took the lead at the Schuco Arena through Matthieu Delpierre (4) and Thomas Hitzlsperger (33) - but Arminia battled back bravely on each occasion as Chris Katongo (30) and Vlad Munteanu (69 pen) scored.
The point does not lift Arminia out of the relegation zone though, as the team fourth bottom -
Energie Cottbus - also claimed a point as they drew 0-0 at bottom-of-the table
Karlsruhe, who remain four points adrift of safety.
Borussia Dortmund leapfrogged arch rivals Schalke after claiming a late 2-0 triumph at
Eintracht Frankfurt.
Borussia claimed the win thanks to two goals in the last ten minutes as Mohamed Zidan (80) pounced before Habib Bellaid (84) put through his own net.
The three points for Borussia means they go above
Schalke - who lost 2-1 at home to
Bayer Leverkusen, who move up to eighth.
Bayer were 2-0 up within half-an-hour in Gelsenkirchen as Patrick Helmes (9) and Renato Augusto (26) pounced.
Kevin Kuranyi scored late on (87) but that proved no more than a consolation.
