Bayern Munich versus title challenger Leverkusen. Bayern were riding high after advancing to the final of the German Cup at the expense of Wolfsburg.

Italian striker Luca Toni scored twice to steer the Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen

Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said Saturday’s match was a chance to knock third-placed Leverkusen out of the race for the championship, in the Bavarian side’s last encounter against a direct rival.

Leverkusen knew a win could make them a viable title title contender for the Bundesliga crown. They have not won at Bayern in nineteen years.

Leverkusen’s Michael Skibbe said being underdogs could be an advantage, but early on the game looked one-sided as Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose teamed up to rip a hole in the Leverkusen’s defence, giving Toni his 15th goal of the season. The Italian international tops the Bundesliga goal scoring table.

The good news for Leverskusen was that they had only let in one goal at the half-time whistle.

But at the start of the second half Toni got his second goal, heading in a cross from Philipp Lahm.

Leverkusen pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute when Russia striker Dmitri Bulykin latched on to a through ball from Paul Freier to beat keeper Oliver Kahn.

Dortmund 1 Karlsruhe 1

German Cup finalists Borussia Dortmund shared a point but are still dangerously close to the relegation zone. The first goal was scored by Croatian striker Mladen Petric. A perfect free kick over the wall. But the hero of the day was Sebastian Fries Markus Miller who equalized for Karlsruhe. Dortmund had a goal disallowed in the last minute, much to annoyance of Dortmund manager Thomas Doll.

Karlsruhe have been going through a poor spell recently, winning only once in their last seven games. This season’s newcomers started the season well but have run out of steam – just when it matters most. KSC were missing Australian Joshua Kennedy who was injured. He has scored four times in Karlsruhe’s last six matches.

Wolfsburg 1 Hamburg 1

Wolfsburg were held to a 1-1 draw by Hamburg, who remain unbeaten since the winter break. After exiting from the German Cup midweek Wolfsburg wanted to at least continue their winning series in the Bundesliga. They have won six out the last eight matches, the team with the best form in the Bundesliga. Defender Bastian Reinhardt headed in a goal to put Hamburg ahead, but Wolfsburg striker Danijel Ljuboja equalized in the second half to share the points. The game was overshadowed by four red cards.

Stuttgart 4 Rostock 1

Pavel Pardo got the first goal for Stuttgart from the penalty spot…Kakau made it 2-nil before Orestes got one back for the eastern German club. But Rostock failed to punish some poor Stuttgart defending and paid the price.

Last season’s top scorer Mario Gomez got another for Stuttgart in the 87th minute and laid on a pass for Bastürk to score the winner in time added on. 16 points out of the last six games, not bad for the defending Bundesliga champions.

Nuremberg 1 Bochum 1

Bochum, the visitors were ahead early on but Misimovic equalized to put Nuremberg back in the game but they are still stuck in the relegation zone.

And mid-table Hanover were held 1-1 by bottom side Duisburg.

Eintracht Frankfurt beat Energie Cottbus 2-1 Thursday night to move into sixth place in the German Bundesliga thanks to a goal and assist from Brazilian Caio.

Timo Rost put the visitors ahead in the 48th minute after a mistake from Eintracht keeper Oka Nikolov. But Caio, who came on in the second half, equalized 11 minutes later and set up Marko Russ on the 65th minute with the winning goal.

On Sunday,

Werder Bremen, currently fourth, play Bielefeld, which sees the return of Thorsten Frings after injury. And Hertha Berlin play Schalke at home.

Standings

01 Bayern 53

02 Hamburg 46

03 Leverkusen 44

16 Bielefeld 20

17 Nürnberg 18

18 Duisburg 18