German national team stalwart Per Mertesacker got a 90th minute equalizer for Werder Bremen, putting them back on top of the Bundesliga and extending their run of matches without a loss, across all competitions, to 21.

The tall central defender rose to meet Mesut Ozil's corner as the game went into its second minute of injury time, cancelling out Wolfsburg's advantage that had come courtesy of a two-goal effort from Edin Dzeko.

The Bremen players were jubilant. But after the match, team captain Thorsten Frings had some criticism.

Asked about Wolfsburg's success, Frings said, "they have a striker who put in both of their chances."

It was praise for Edin Dzeko, but also a little tweak for the likes of Bremen's own striker Hugo Almeida, who did score in the match, but could have had more. Werder dominated the first half, and it was their failure to convert their chances that had let Wolfsburg into the game.

Gelsenkirchen club Schalke had a chance to overtake Werder later on Saturday evening when they traveled to Mönchengladbach. But instead, the Bundesliga's youngest team were taught a lesson.

Just five minutes into the match, central defender Dante picked out Juan Arango with a 40-meter beauty of a pass that beat Schalke's offside trap. He passed to Marco Reus for an easy goal. Gladbach held on for the next 85 minutes and took all three points.

"It appears we didn't know Gladbach's skill at long balls," said Schalke manager Felix Magath. "In that decisive moment, our entire back four was caught napping."

Bayer Leverkusen has the chance to take back the top spot - but only if it can get a result at home against Stuttgart on Sunday.

Leaving points on the table

Two of the other sides leading the chase to keep pace with the likes of Bremen, Hoffenheim and Hamburg, will be sorry they couldn't hold their opponents in the closing stages of their matches on Saturday.

Hoffenheim, who had been so dominant in their last string of matches, came out flat in the first half of their home match against Dortmund.

They were made to pay for it almost immediately, as Jakub “Kuba” Blaszczykowski got on the end of a string of passes in midfield after a Hoffenheim giveaway in the second minute. He pushed the ball past Marvin Compper and fired a low shot just inside the right post.

Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick made changes at halftime, which seemed to pay off. Demba Ba scored in the 49th minute, and the home side had the better of play from then on.

But Josip Simunic's clumsy foul of Dortmund's Neven Subotic in the area in the 78th minute meant a penalty, and then a 2-1 lead, for Dortmund. Hoffenheim couldn't get one back.

Hamburg came into their match against Mainz hungry. They were winless in their last five league games, and had been guilty of allowing a lot of late winners and equalizers during that stretch.

The script didn't flip on Saturday, as Hamburg protected their third-minute lead for six minutes too few. Mainz's Tim Hoogland scored from close range in the 84th after he was set up well by…none other than Hamburg defender David Rozehnal, whose clearance of a dangerous ball was anything but clean.

"Luck just isn't with us at the moment," said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia after the match.

"But there's no use in complaining, we'll just have to try and get more out of counter chances like the ones we had in the second half."

Losers lose…or tie each other

The current sick man of the Bundesliga, Hertha Berlin, took another bad fall on Saturday, losing 3-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. It was the team's 12th loss in 14 matches, and will make very difficult for them to avoid relegation.

"Whoever's been knocked to the floor knows all you can do is try to get up again," said a drained Friedhelm Funkel after the match. The coach who was brought in to rescue Hertha in October, but has only seen their free-fall continue. He said his team looked out of sorts on the pitch from the start.

"Of course I'm disappointed, but we've got to press on," he said.

Nuremburg, who are also off to a poor start this season, lost again as well, 1-0 at home to Freiburg. The visitors from Germany's far southwest went up after 12 minutes, put the clamps on, and never let up.

Two other sides that have been well down in the standings all year, Cologne and Bochum, faced each other on Friday night. Neither managed to score.

Author: Matt Hermann
Editor: Kyle James