Pizarro strikes to give Bremen win at Hoffenheim

Mar 14, 2010 - 7:10 PM FRANKFURT, Germany(AP) -- Stefan Kiessling scored twice as Bayer Leverkusen rebounded from its first defeat of the season with a 4-2 home victory over Hamburg on Sunday.

A week after losing 3-2 at Nuremberg, Kiessling found the net in each half, either side of an Eren Derdiyok strike before Gonzalo Castro added a late fourth to keep Leverkusen in the running for the Bundesliga title.

Jupp Heynckes's team moved on to 53 points in third place, one point behind Schalke and three behind leader Bayern Munich after 26 rounds.

"This was an important game for us after the other two teams (Bayern Munich and Schalke) had won. It was also important to keep some space from the teams behind us," Heynckes said.

"It's normal that you lose a game after 25 games. But we showed an excellent reaction. And they were rewarded today."

The victory also followed a dip in form in which Leverkusen had won just once in four games.

"This was a really big game for us to perform well in, having not played well in the last couple of weeks," Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler said.

Kiessling opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, running onto a long pass from Tranquillo Barnetta and out-pacing two Hamburg defenders before beating keeper Frank Rost.

Hamburg scored a fortuitous equaliser in the 33rd minute after Leverkusen defender Sami Hyypia and Adler collided as they tried to intercept a high pass to the edge of the area. The ball ran free to Hamburg playmaker Ze Roberto, who volleyed over Adler into an empty net.

Leverkusen regained the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Derdiyok headed home a cross from Daniel Schwaab and Kiessling nodded home seven minutes later after a cross from Renato Augusto.

David Rozehnal pulled a goal back for Hamburg in the 83rd minute, but Castro made sure of the points with Leverkusen's fourth just a minute later.

Kiessling's goals left him clear at the top of the Bundesliga scorers' standings with 16 goals.

Hamburg remained in fifth place on 43 points, one more than Werder Bremen, which beat Hoffenheim 1-0 away earlier on Sunday thanks to a late winner from Claudio Pizarro.

It was a game of few chances as both teams were without some of their more creative players, a patient Bremen side notably missing German international Mesut Oezil in its attempt to prise open a robust Hoffenheim defense.

Bremen finally made the breakthrough with nine minutes left when Daniel Jensen sent a long high pass over the Hoffenheim defense for Pizarro, who fired a looping shot over Hoffenheim keeper Timo Hildebrand.

"We didn't see a lot of chances," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf, whose side drew 1-1 on Thursday at Valencia in the Europa League. "You could see that the game on Thursday affected us.

"But we were disciplined, especially in defense. And Claudio is so experienced, he can decide games like that."

Hoffenheim, which has collected just one victory in its last eight home games, is 11th with 32 points.