Leverkusen bounce back, Bielefeld sink Nuremberg

It was the second successive Bundesliga victory for Leverkusen who had failed to win in their previous four league games.

 Meanwhile Arminia Bielefeld ended a run of seven winless games by defeating fellow strugglers Nuremberg 3-1.

 Leverkusen, who had been beaten 2-1 by Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, emerged 2-1 winners at Wolfsburg, courtesy of goals in each half from Tranquillo Barnetta and Stefan Kiessling.

 The win, following a 4-0 drubbing of Bielefeld last weekend, moves Michael Skibbe's side to 21 points, seven behind leaders Bayern Munich.

 Swiss international Barnetta was on target in the 37th minute to give the visitors a half-time lead. Barnetta had little trouble scoring from close range after Simon Jentzsch in goal could only parry a Kiessling shot following a cross from Sergei Barbarez.

 Barbarez then set up the second goal seven minutes after the break with a pass to Arturo Vidal who immediately found Kiesling for the striker to stroke the ball into an empty goal.

 Wolfsburg gave themselves hope in the 70th minute when German defender Manuel Friedrich turned a cross from Sascha Riether into his own net, and Brazilian Marcelinho saw a free-kick parried onto the post by goalkeeper Rene Adler.

 In an entertaining game, Leverkusen came close to a third on the break when Vidal struck the post.

 "It was a great game from both sides. At the end we had a bit of luck," said Leverkusen sports director Rudi Voeller.

 Nuremberg, who were beaten 2-0 at home by Everton in the UEFA Cup Thursday, were left third from bottom after a 3-1 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld.

 It was a third successive league defeat for Hans Meyer's side who had taken the lead in the 43rd minute when defender Andreas Wolf headed in a cross from Zvjedan Misimovic.

 But Ruediger Kauf headed Bielefeld level in the 63rd minute, Artur Wichniarek slid onto a cross from 62nd-minute substitute Sibusiso Zuma to strike the second in the 76th, and the South African curled in the third from 16 metres in stoppage time.

 The defeat moves Bielefeld to 15 points, fifth from bottom and six points clear of Nuremberg.

 "We are not in a position at the moment, either individually or as a team, to pull through a game without making mistakes," said Nuremberg coach Meyer.

 "We were unable to turn our early dominance into goals."

   On Saturday, Bayern Munich crashed 3-1 at champions VfB Stuttgart for their first defeat of the season to see their lead at the top of the Bundesliga pulled back to one point.

 Bayern have 28 points, with Werder Bremen and SV Hamburg on 27.   Bremen defeated SC Karlsruhe 2-0 while Hamburg drew 1-1 at last season's runners-up Schalke 04.By Barry Whelan, dpa