Bochum put five past Wolfsburg to move out of the drop zone

Mario Eggimann scored the only goal of the game on 29 minutes for newly-promoted Karlsruhe, who could afford the luxury of Edmond Kapllani missing a late penalty after Duisburg's Bjoern Schlicke saw a straight red for a last-man foul in the area on Tamas Hajnal.

 Meanwhile, Duisburg remain second-from bottom with just nine points from 12 games.

 "It's a very painful situation for us," said coach Rudolf Bommer, who has just had his contracted extended until 2010. "We had some chances but need to see more composure in front of goal.

 The result sees Karlsruhe continue their strong start to the season and the southern Germans now trail leaders Bayern Munich by just five points.

 Bayern were held to a goalless draw at home by Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday allowing second-placed SV Hamburg cut the gap to two points following a victory over Hertha Berlin. Werder Bremen also gained ground in third with a 1-0 win against Hansa Rostock.

 Bochum started the day third-from bottom and on a run of nine games without a win but got off to the perfect when Stanislav Sestak rose to head home a Joel Epalle free kick after just four minutes.

 Marcel Maltritz doubled Bochum's lead from the penalty spot on 20 minutes after Wolfsburg goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch brought down Marcin Mieciel in the area.

 Danny Fuchs got on the scoresheet with a shot from the edge of the area before Sestak made it 4-0 just before half-time, calmly slotting past Jentzsch after being played clear by Epalle.

 Two early second-half goals from Marcel Schaefer and Grafite briefly gave Wolfsburg hope before Epalle settled the home side's nerves on 63 minutes with a well-struck shot to make it 5-2.

 Grafite made it 5-3 with his second of the game and after narrowly missed out on cutting the deficit to just one goal but Bochum held on for a vital win that sees Marcel Koller's side jump three places to 13th while Wolfsburg remain ninth.

 In Saturday action, Champions VfB Stuttgart won 1-0 at Nuremberg while Hanover 96 beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Bayer Leverkusen had the biggest victory of the day, beating Arminia Bielefeld 4-0.

 On Friday self-proclaimed title candidates Schalke 04 lost 1-0 at bottom of the table club Energie Cottbus and now languish in seventh spot on 18 points, 10 adrift of Bayern.

DPA