'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
BERLIN (AFP) –
Wolfsburg’s Brazilian midfielder Diego, pictured on November 3. Bayer Leverkusen missed going third in the Bundesliga on Sunday as they suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg while league leaders Bayern Munich are out on their own, according to their rivals.
Bayer Leverkusen missed going third in the Bundesliga on Sunday as they suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg while league leaders Bayern Munich are out on their own, according to their rivals.
Wolfsburg scored three goals in 33 electrifying minutes at home as Brazil midfielder Diego floated in a free-kick after four minutes, then converted a chance on 16 minutes.
Dutchman Bas Dost then drilled in Marcel Schaefer’s cross on 33 minutes to leave Leverkusen on the ropes and gave Wolves’ caretaker coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner his second league win since Felix Magath left the club last month.
Ex-Germany striker Stefan Kiessling showed national coach Joachim Loew what he is missing with a consolation goal in the 91st minute for Leverkusen, his seventh goal of the season in 11 games.
“It was a disaster in the first half, it has to be said,” fumed Leverkusen centre-back Philipp Wollscheid.
“That just doesn’t work. We were all asleep, you can’t win a game like that.”
It was Leverkusen’s first defeat since they were beaten 3-0 at defending champions Borussia Dortmund on September 15, but leaves them fifth with Wolfsburg up to 16th – still within the relegation spots.
On Sunday evening, Hanover scored four goals in 16 minutes, including two from super-sub Norway striker Mohammed Abdellaoue, to come back from two goals down and seal a 4-2 win over VfB Stuttgart to stay sixth.
Likewise, Borussia Moenchengladbach, eighth, came from behind to seal a 4-2 win at second-from-bottom Greuther Fuerth, who had defender Thomas Klein sent off on 12 minutes for bringing down Patrick Herrmann who was through on goal.
Fuerth were then reduced to nine men when Milorad Pekovic was sent off for a handball in the 91st-minute to compound the hosts misery.
On Saturday, Eintracht Frankfurt coach Armin Veh insisted Bayern are in a “league of their own” after Munich’s 2-0 victory kept them seven-points clear at the top of the league.
Goals by France’s Franck Ribery and Austria’s David Alaba gave Bayern their tenth win from 11 league games and Veh says the Bavarians are currently untouchable.
“We were up against opponents who are in a league of their own,” said Veh, who won the Bundesliga title with VfB Stuttgart in 2007.
“We tried to press Bayern early and not let them get going.
“We did that very well, but Bayern are smart and you have to cover a lot of ground. The second goal settled the outcome and it broke our resistance.”
Second-placed Schalke 04 stayed in touch with Bayern after coming from behind to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen.
Dortmund moved up to fourth with a 3-1 win at bottom side Augsburg.
Hamburg were held to a goalless draw by Freiburg while ten-man Hoffenheim drew 1-1 at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf after defender Marvin Compper was sent off for the hosts after a second yellow card.
Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel has meanwhile said he will make a formal complaint to the German Football Federation (DFB) about the conduct of the fourth official during Friday’s 2-1 win at home to Nuremberg.
