BERLIN, Sept 28 (Reuters) – The Bundesliga’s last remaining unbeaten record fell on Sunday when VfL Wolfsburg suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat away to Karlsruhe.

A big win would have taken Wolfsburg up as high as second but they suffered a spectacular comedown from last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Hamburg SV.

Karlsruhe took the lead with a Massimilian Porcello free kick at the start of the second half and Wolfsburg were further hit when Grafite was sent off for a second booking.

Sebastian Freis made it 2-0 when he knocked in a cross from Alexander Iashvili and although Wolfsburg gave themselves hope when Ricardo Costa headed down and in with around 10 minutes to go they could not complete the comeback.

With six games played, Hamburg are the new leaders with 13 points after they recovered from that mauling by Wolfsburg to win 1-0 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen are second on 12 points, while Werder Bremen are third, a point further back, after their jaw-dropping 5-4 win over 1899 Hoffenheim.

Schalke 04, who went into the latest round of matches as the league leaders and the only other unbeaten team, have dropped to fourth on …

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Werder Bremen saw off an heroic fightback from newcomers Hoffenheim to snatch a 5-4 win on Saturday, while misfiring Bayern Munich lost 1-0 at Hanover 96.

Bremen, 5-2 winners away to Bayern last weekend, picked up where they left off in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash at home to Hoffenheim as they built up a 4-1 lead in the first half.

The visitors recovered to 4-4 before 10-man Bremen grabbed a late winner through Mesut Ozil.

While Bremen were running riot, Bayern were utterly devoid of ideas against Hanover, who took the lead with a Szabolcs Huszti free kick and held on comfortably.

Hamburg SV lead the standings with 13 points from six games after a 1-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach, courtesy of a Mladen Petric goal. Bayer Leverkusen are second on 12 points after a nervy 3-2 win at Bochum.

Bremen are up to third place on 11 points after their latest scoring spree, while Bayern, with just two wins to their name, are down in ninth place on eight points.

Once again Bayern were let down by a mistake from goalkeeper Michael Rensing, who could not get across quickly enough to keep out …

Former Germany striker Jan Schlaudraff recovered his scoring touch to help Hanover 96 get their season going at last with a 5-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.

Schlaudraff and Szabolcs Huszti each struck twice while Mikael Forssell added a late penalty to give Hanover their first win of the season and propel them to 12th place with four points. Moenchengladbach drop to 15th on three points.

VfL Bochum also moved out of the Bundesliga relegation places with a 2-0 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.

Hamburg SV lead the standings with 10 points from four matches after they came from two down to win 3-2 at home to Bayern Leverkusen on Saturday.

Bayern Munich are second on eight points following a 3-0 win away to Cologne, with Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund trailing them on goal difference after their frantic 3-3 derby draw.

Hanover had not managed a goal in the opening three matches and it looked like being a familiar story when Huszti had a terrible penalty saved in the 28th minute.

The Hungary midfielder atoned four minutes later, however, when he squeezed a shot past the keeper and in at the near post.

Schlaudraff, who …

Veteran striker Miroslav Klose saved Germany with a hat-trick to seal a late 3-3 draw against Finland in Wednesday night’s World Cup 2010 qualifier. Euro 2008 finalists Germany were looking down the barrel of a defeat orchestrated by Finland’s former Liverpool forward Daniel Sjolund who had earlier put his side 3-2 ahead early in the second-half.

But Klose, 30, used every bit of his experience on the day he won his 84th cap to complete his hat-trick in the 83rd minute to give Germany a valuable point in Group 4 in their quest to reach the next World Cup in South Africa.

The home side got off to a flying start when they took the lead after Malmo striker Jonatan Johansson capitalised on a mistake in the German defence and fired home on 32 minutes to the delight of the home crowd. Germany responded quickly when Klose held off a challenge from Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia and fired home just six minutes later.

Finland reclaimed the lead with half-time approaching when midfielder Mika Vayrynen scored a superb goal after converting a pin-point accurate cross from Sjolund. But just 90 seconds later, Klose struck again when he drove a bullet header …

Former Bayern München and Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn bowed out of the game on Tuesday after 20 years as a professional, his testimonial at Bayern’s Arena finishing 1-1 between Bayern and the German national team.

Kahn, 39, made 557 appearances in the Bundesliga for Karlsruhe and Bayern and bade farewell, having Monday insisted that “there aren’t many things I miss” about the game. Kahn played the match for Bayern, with whom he won eight league titles as well as the Champions League in 2001.

He was also voted player of the tournament at the 2002 World Cup, where he helped “Die Mannschaft” reach the final only for a mistake to give Brazil the opening goal in a 2-0 win for the South Americans.

For his final game he was coached by new Bayern handler Jürgen Klinsmann. “Tonight was very moving for me, perhaps the most moving moment of my career,” Kahn said.

“I was under pressure my whole career whereas now I just had the joy of being out there in this stadium and before these fans one last time.”

After 75 minutes and having made several top-drawer saves Kahn gave way to Michael Rensing in the Bayern goal before …

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has been ruled out of Germany’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein on Saturday and Finland four days later.

The German football federation revealed that Ballack is suffering from a bruised foot and will miss the opening games in Group Four. The federation had earlier suggested the 31-year-old could recover in time for the trip to Helsinki, but Ballack confirmed he would miss both fixtures.

Coach Joachim Löw, speaking at Oliver Kahn’s farewell match in Munich, said: “Michael will not be playing against Finland,” Löw said. “Because he must have a break of eight or nine days.”

The 32-year-old suffered the knock in Chelsea’s opening-day victory over Portsmouth on August 17, which caused him to pull out of Germany’s 2-0 friendly win over Belgium. A combination of rest and treatment looked to have solved the problem as Ballack returned for the Blues against Wigan, only for the injury to flare up again and rule him out of the qualifiers.…

German coach Joachim Löw has nominated Andreas Hinkel for the two World Cup qualifying games against Liechtenstein on Saturday, September 6 and Finland on Wednesday, September 10.

The 26-year old defensive player is currently playing for Scotland’s champions Celtic Glasgow. He had his debut in the German team on April 30, 2003, in a game against Serbia-Montenegro. On September 3, 2005, Hinkel played his last game in the black-and-white uniform, a 2-0 defeat against Bratislava.

“Andreas is a regular with Celtic, where he has shown some good games”, said Löw following Hinkel’s nomination.

Andreas Hinkel was called up as a replacement for Torsten Frings, who is out due to a nasal bone fracture. Captain Michael Ballack is also still doubtful as he still has problems with his foot.…

Bayern Munich won 4-1 at home to Hertha Berlin on Sunday to clinch their first Bundesliga victory under new coach Juergen Klinsmann and move within two points of the leaders.

After two draws from the opening two matches of the season, former Germany coach Klinsmann was badly in need of a win and it was never in serious doubt once Luca Toni had struck the first early on.

Philipp Lahm scored a brilliant second after the break, and penalties from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose sealed victory before Marko Pantelic got a late consolation goal.

‘I think finally we’re on our way,’ Klinsmann said after the game. ‘The win will have done us a lot of good.’

Victory took Bayern up to seventh place with five points from three matches. Schalke lead with seven points following their 1-0 derby win over Bochum on Saturday, with Hamburg SV and Borussia Dortmund behind them on goal difference.

VfB Stuttgart, champions in 2007, moved up to fifth place on six points thanks to a 2-0 win at home to Hanover 96 on Sunday.

Toni, who top scored in the Bundesliga with 24 goals last season only to endure a terrible time with Italy …