Wolfsburg match Bayern to stay ahead in knife-edge race

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-13 09:40

FRANKFURT - Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin all won Tuesday to leave the Bundesliga title race wide open with two matches remaining.

Wolfsburg got two goals from Edin Dzeko and one from Grafite to beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0, while Lukas Podolski scored once and set up two goals to help Bayern beat Bayer Leverkusen by the same scoreline and Hertha won 2-1 in Cologne.

Wolfsburg match Bayern to stay ahead in knife-edge race

Bayern Munich's Lukas Podolski celebrates his goal against Leverkusen during their German Bundesliga first division soccer match in Munich, May 12, 2009. [Agencies]

Wolfsburg and Bayern both have 63 points but Wolfsburg leads on goal difference. Hertha is third on 62 points and Stuttgart is fourth with 58 and needs to win on Wednesday at Schalke to stay in the mix.

In the fourth game Tuesday, last-place Karlsruhe squandered a 2-0 lead at home against Hannover to lose 3-2 and seems doomed to be relegated from the top flight.

In Wolfsburg, Felix Magath's team bounced back from Saturday's 4-1 loss at Stuttgart, following the announcement that Magath would move to Schalke next season.

Captain Joseu set up Dzeko to score off a counterattack on 14 minutes after Dortmund had missed a couple of early chances. Grafite also put the ball in the net only to be called offside.

But the Brazilian striker notched a league-high 24th goal of the season two minutes into the second half, after Patrick Owomoyela's clumsy headed clearance fell to Dzeko, who released Grafite through the middle.

Grafite then returned the favor by setting up Dzeko late in the game, supplying the pass for Dzeko's 22nd strike of the season. The two forwards are the most potent strike partnership in the league, netting 46 goals between them.

Leverkusen had what appeared to be two penalties turned down in the first half but after the break Bayern took control.

Luca Toni, virtually invisible in the first half, picked up a pass from Podolski to score two minutes into the second half, rolling the ball over the line with what appeared to be a mishit shot.

Franck Ribery made it 2-0 after combining with Podolski to leave Leverkusen's defense befuddled in a swift counterattack. Podolski played the ball back to the Frenchman, who slammed it into the roof of the net in the 59th.

Podolski, after setting up the first two, scored himself after yet another fast break that left one Leverkusen defender facing three Bayern players. Bastian Schweinsteiger provided the final pass for Podolski to score.

Bayern striker Miroslav Klose made his comeback when he came on late in the game after recovering from an operation on his right ankle in March.

In Cologne, striker Marko Pantelic created Hertha's go-ahead goal shortly before halftime with a good run on the left flank and then playing the ball back from the touchline to Cicero, who easily drove it inside the far post.

Patrick Ebert doubled the score in the 53rd, when his shot was deflected by Cologne's defender Pedro Geromel.