Petric double steers Hamburg to victory

Striker Mladen Petric scored twice in the first half to give Hamburg a 2-1 away win against Cologne yesterday and catch fourth-placed Hertha Berlin on 30 points.

It was Hamburg's first Bundesliga away win in more than two months.

Petric's sixth goal of the season came after 15 minutes when Marcell Jansen sprinted past two defenders on the left and floated a deep cross for Petric to head in at the far post.

The Croatian scored his second just after the half hour mark with a diving header from two metres after Jori Mathijsen headed on a Piotr Trochowski corner.

Milivoje Novakovic pulled one back for the hosts in the 83rd.

In the only other match of the day, Wolfsburg beat Hanover 2-1 to move up to sixth place.

Wolfsburg struck first with defender Cristian Zaccardo. Jiri Stajner equalised for Hanover in the 59th but four minutes later scored an own goal heading a Misimovic free-kick past keeper Florian Fromlowitz.

Surprise package Hoffenheim still lead the table with 34 points from 16 games despite a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich on Friday. Bayern are second on goal difference.