Closing the gap

"Being the champions of the first half means nothing to me," said Jupp Heynckes, coach of first place Bayer Leverkusen, after his team's 2-2 draw against last place Hertha Berlin. The single point from the draw left the door open for other teams in the Bundesliga to close in on Leverkusen's top spot with one game to go before the winter break.

If being in first place at the end of the first half is irrelevant for Heynckes, then there are two other teams in the league who would gladly celebrate the holidays from the top of the standings in Leverkusen's stead.

Those teams would be Schalke and Bayern Munich, who both won their matches in the Bundesliga to narrow the gap to Heynckes' team. Leverkusen leads the league with 32 points, just one ahead of second place Schalke and two in front of Munich.

Battle for second goes to Schalke

Despite playing with the home-field advantage, Werder Bremen was forced to concede second place and any hopes of leading the league before the break after losing 2-0 in Schalke. Heading into the match, the two were tied on points, with Schalke trailing on goal differential.

Kevin Kuranyi put the first goal in the net for Schalke just after the second half got underway, and Jan Moravek, coming off the bench, took a pass from Kuranyi and sealed the victory for Schalke with the final goal in the 72nd minute.

The loss ended Bremen's undefeated streak of 23 matches and left them in fourth place, four points off the top and two shy of third place Bayern.

Bayern continues to win

Fresh off their convincing 4-0 thrashing of Juventus that advanced them to the knock-out stage of the Champions League, Munich won again in the Bundesliga with another feast of goals. The final tally for Bayern, playing on the road against Bochum, was 5-1.

Mario Gomez got things started for the Bavarians, scoring his fourth goal in four matches in the 23rd minute. Ivica Olic added a pair of goals on either side of the break, and Danijel Prandic scored Munich's final goal ten minutes after half-time. Bochum's Mergim Marvic put the fifth goal on the board for Bayern, misdirecting a clearance attempt into his own goal. Christian Fuchs prevented a Bayern shutout with a free kick in the 76th minute.

"It's been a great week, the best since I have been in Munich," said a pleased Munich coach Louis van Gaal. "We are only two points off the top spot and that is very satisfying."

Bad luck for Hanover

It may have been a memorable day for Louis van Gaal, but Saturday's game between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Hanover 96 is one that Hanover defender Karim Haggui would probably rather forget after putting two goals into his own net.

The first came after Hanover Florian Fromlowitz slipped while attempting to clear the ball and kicked it into Haggui's leg, which deflected the ball back into the net. The second was a back pass that missed Fromlowitz and landed in the goal in stoppage time. Huggui couldn't help but grin over his terrible luck.

Incredibly, Haggui wasn't the only one to score at the wrong end for Hanover. In the 58th minute, Constant Djakpa gave Moenchengladbach their third early Christmas present of the match.

Moenchengladbach did manage to score two goals of their own, with Rob Friend scoring in the 22nd minute and Michael Bradley sending a free kick to the back of the net in the 68th. Hanover put three goals in the correct goal as well, including two from Didier Ya Konan, for a final score of 5-3 for Moenchengladbach.

"We saw a crazy, curious match," said Hanover coach Andreas Bergmann. "It's unbelievable we scored six goals and lost the match. I don't think we'll forget this match any time soon."

Hamburg still contenders

While Schalke and Bayern are closing in on Leverkusen as the first half of the season comes to a close, Hamburg has kept itself in a good position for when play resumes in January with a 4-0 road win over Nuremburg. Eljero Elia scored twice for the visiting side, and Marcel Jansen and Tunay Torun added 1 goal each.

Hoffenheim played to a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, and it was a scoreless tie for Cologne and Freiburg.

Sunday, the second-to-last match day before the winter break, features FSV Mainz against Stuttgart, and Wolfsburg against Borussia Dortmund.

mz/Reuters/SID

Editor: Mark Rossman