Soccer results

A lively Freiburg side stunned hosts Hertha with two early goals by midfielder Ivica Banovic (5th minute) and striker Cedric Makiadi (12th). Although the Berliners had more ball possession in the first half, Freiburg controlled the game and the shock for Hertha was complete after Freiburg's striker Mohamadou Idrissou scored in the 42nd.

However, the ordeal was not over for Hertha. Although the Berliners started more aggressively into the second half, it was Freiburg's Banovic who scored his second goal in the 68th, sealing his team's impressive 4-0 victory against an uninspired Hertha.

"We can't carry on like this. We are no longer prepared to fight and defend properly and instead think we can simply play forward. That's not enough. It will be very tough to get out of this," said the visibly shocked Hertha coach Lucien Favre after the match.

Defensive Frankfurt hold Hamburg to 1-1 draw

Hamburg took an early lead after Frankfurt's goalkeeper Oka Nikolov failed to clear a free kick, leaving Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto to net a headball at short distance in the 8th minute.

But, though Hamburg looked like the better team for most of the match, it was Frankfurt's defender Marco Russ who equalized in the 32nd after a perfect assist by Alexander Meier.

Frankfurt's coach Michael Skibbe had pledged that his team would play as aggressively as possible, but Hamburg had more of the ball, with the Hessians reacting rather passively for the remainder of the game.

"Hamburg was a lot closer to winning than we were," Skibbe admitted after the match.

HSV coach Bruno Labbadia was not satisfied with the result "We are disappointed. We gave two points away today. We stopped playing football after taking the early lead."

The draw means that both teams remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga.

Hamburg, Leverkusen remain table leaders

A well organized Leverkusen clashed with a weakened Bremen, who had to do without injured star midfielder Mesut Özil.

Some phases of the game saw fast play on both sides, with hosts Leverkusen having the edge on Bremen.

However, Werder coach Thomas Schaaf was satisfied with his team's performance. "Both teams had a lot of respect for each other and there was little room to maneuver. Nobody wanted to open up and so there were few opportunities to score."

Leverkusen's star striker Stefan Kiessling was content despite the fact that his series of scoring in every match since the beginning of the season was interrupted against Bremen. "We can be satisfied with this result. Nobody has managed to beat us yet."

Kiessling's failure to score in his sixth consecutive match not only lost him a new Bundesliga record it will also lose him his beard which he had planned on growing as long as his series lasted.

The goalless draw also means that Hamburg remain on par with Leverkusen with 14 points at the top of the table; the HSV, however, takes first position on goal difference.

nk/dpa/Reuters/SID

Editor: Rick Demarest