Hamburg striker Mladen Petric hit a wonder goal to fire his side back to the top of the Bundesliga and help beat Stuttgart 3-1 yesterday.

The Croatian took a neat return pass from Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia and drilled his shot past Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann from outside the penalty area on 30 minutes as Hamburg dominated the match.

Elia then netted a goal of his own on 58 minutes, but Stuttgart threatened to force their way back into the game when Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak pulled a goal back on 62 minutes.

Hamburg's former Bayern Munich midfielder Ze Roberto put the matter beyond doubt in injury time when he fired home to give his side their fourth straight league win.

"The team is in good health," said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia.

"It is only one result, but it is great to see us get to this point.

"We showed a lot of patience today."

Hamburg lead the Bundesliga on goal difference from Bayer Leverkusen and their result was more impressive as they lost Peru striker Paolo Guerrero and Namibia defender Collin Benjamin with serious knee injuries last week.

Earlier Germany team-mates Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez both scored as Bayern Munich moved up to fourth in the Bundesliga after a 5-1 win at Borussia Dortmond.

Having defeated Wolfsburg 3-0 in their previous outing, Bayern hit back from conceding an early goal as Gomez bagged a first-half equaliser before Schweinsteiger put his side ahead with a well-taken solo effort.

French midfielder Franck Ribery then slotted home a free-kick before teenager Thomas Mueller, who celebrates his 20th birthday today, netted twice in the final 20 minutes to fire Bayern up the table.

The victory gives Dutch coach Louis van Gaal his second league win having taken over in July and makes up for Bayern's disastrous start to the season when they dropped down to 16th in the table.

Defending champions Wolfsburg are facing something of a crisis after they were beaten 3-2 by Bayer Leverkusen having had goalkeeper Diego Benaglio sent off.