Hoffenheim Go Top With 3-3 Draw Against Stuttgart

Hoffenheim, who missed a stoppage time penalty through Sejad Salihovic, and Hertha have 40 points.

Striker Demba Ba's hat-trick gave Hoffenheim a 3-3 draw at VfB Stuttgart and put them back at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Lacklustre Hertha Berlin dropped to second with an inferior goal difference after a 2-1 defeat away to VfL Wolfsburg courtesy of a second-half Edin Dzeko brace.

Ba put Hoffenheim ahead in the 24th minute and scored his second just before the break after Cacau and Mario Gomez had given the hosts a 2-1 lead.

The Senegalese striker was on hand again to equalise in the 67th with a superb run after Gomez's second goal had reclaimed the lead for Stuttgart four minutes earlier.

Hoffenheim, who missed a stoppage time penalty through Sejad Salihovic, and Hertha have 40 points.

In a frantic 21 first-half minutes both teams scored twice, starting in the 24th when Andreas Beck found Ba inside the box, the striker quickly turning and firing past keeper Jens Lehmann from a tight angle.

Stuttgart, who have not lost in the league since November, levelled two minutes later through Cacau who met Gomez's pass from the left and slotted past Hoffenheim keeper Daniel Haas.

The hosts then went 2-1 up with a Gomez header before Ba equalised seconds before the break, chasing down an Isaac Vorsah through ball, beating two defenders and firing past Lehmann.

His third goal was almost identical, coming four minutes after Gomez scored his second with a wonderful lob over Haas.

BAYERN DEFEAT

Champions Bayern Munich lost 2-1 at home against Cologne, their third defeat in four league matches with some fans whistling and booing at the Allianz Arena.

They remain in fourth place two points behind the leaders and one short of Hamburg SV, who are away to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

Bayern, including Lukas Podolski who has agreed to rejoin Cologne at the end of the season, stormed forward but despite 80 percent possession in the first half, created no clear chances.

It took Cologne, largely boxed into their own half, 22 minutes to make their presence felt when Nemanja Vucicevic found Fabrice Ehret, who raced past Martin Demichelis and lifted the ball over keeper Michael Rensing to give his team the lead.

Bayern's unstable defence caved in again 12 minutes later when Vucicevic did well to leave Philipp Lahm standing and found Daniel Brosinski in the box to net Cologne's second.

Daniel Van Buyten gave the hosts a glimmer of hope when he pulled one back with a header in the 84th but it was too little too late for the Bavarians, who have wilted since the winter break, taking only three points from four matches.