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December 21, 2009

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Leverkusen ends year on top in Germany

Bayer Leverkusen finished the year top of the German Bundesliga after recovering from 1-2 down to beat gutsy Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 on Saturday.

Playmaker Toni Kroos, on loan from Bayern Munich, struck his second goal of the match after 69 minutes to secure the victory and lift unbeaten Leverkusen to 35 points from 17 matches, one ahead of Schalke 04 which beat Mainz 1-0 on Friday.

The Bundesliga resumes on January 15.

On a snowy, bitterly cold day across most of Germany, Bayern demolished bottom side Hertha Berlin 5-2 for a fourth straight league win to stay in the hunt in third place on 33 points.

Borussia Dortmund, celebrating its 100th anniversary, beat SC Freiburg 1-0 thanks to Argentine Lucas Barrios's ninth goal of the season to move up to fourth on 30 points.

VfB Stuttgart continued to climb the table under new coach Christian Gross, beating Hoffenheim 3-1 to reach 14th place after Ciprian Marica put it ahead with a first-half penalty.

Second booking

Hoffenheim equalized through Maicosuel just before the break but had Luiz Gustavo sent off for a second booking in the 52nd, allowing the host to net twice through Cacau and Sami Khedira to secure its third win of the season.

Leverkusen, which became only the third Bundesliga team to remain undefeated in the first half of the season, looked on its way to victory when the gifted Kroos fired it into the lead after 18 minutes, his shot taking a lucky deflection.

In-form 'Gladbach refused to give up and defender Roel Brouwers stunned the host in the 36th with an equalizer, tapping home after goalkeeper Rene Adler failed to block.

Another defender, Dante, put the visitor ahead nine minutes after halftime but Swiss international Eren Derdiyok leveled with a shot inside the box on the hour before Kroos netted the winner with his sixth goal of the season.

"It was a good game considering the weather and the (icy) state of the pitch," said Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes, who came out of retirement to take over in the close season.

Elsewhere, it was: Eintracht Frankfurt 2, VfL Wolfsburg 2; and Hannover 2, VfL Bochum 3.





 

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