Hamburg makes it three leaders in three weeks

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Feb 23, 2009

[GERMANY] The Bundesliga has its third leader in three weeks as Hamburg took over first place with 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen thanks to two goals by defender Marcell Jansen on Sunday. Last week's leader Hamburg and the leader at the winter break, Hoffenheim, are two points back. Bayern Munich dropped four points off the pace when it was stunner by FC Cologne, 2-1.

Hamburg looked shaky but all Bayer could muster for its wave of attacks was a first-half goal by Patrick Helmes.

"We have the same problems as Leverkusen," said Hamburg coach Martin Jol, "and we do not have a perfect team yet."

Demba Ba's hat trick gave Hoffenheim a 3-3 tie at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, while  a pair of second-half goals by Edin Dzeko gave Wolfsburg a 2-1 win over Hertha.

Bayern Munich's loss to Cologne was its third defeat in four league matches since the winter break and prompted fans to whistle their displeasure at the Allianz Arena.

"Quite a bit went wrong today," Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said. "This defeat angers us and we have again missed the chance to go top of the standings."