Bremen retain four-point advantage
BERLIN, Germany -- Werder Bremen maintained their four-point advantage at the top of Germany's Bundeslia after a 4-0 win over Hertha Berlin.
Two goals from Brazilian Ailton, the league's top scorer, and one from Frenchman Johan Micoud had all but sealed Werder's victory before halftime.
A fourth on fulltime from Nelson Valdez compounded the misery for woeful Hertha, who dropped to the bottom of the table.
Ailton opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he seized on an awful backpass from compatriot Marcelinho to finish with aplomb.
On the half-hour mark, the 30-year-old Ailton struck again to net his 18th goal of the campaign before Micoud added a third five minutes later, outfoxing the Berlin defence with a deft touch and shot on the run.
Stuttgart kept up the pressure with a 2-0 victory over Hansa Rostock to move into second place. Aleksandr Hleb danced into the penalty area for the first and Kevin Kuranyi was left unmarked from a free kick for the second. Stuttgart have 38 points to Werder's 42.
Bayern Munich dropped from second to third with 36 points after being held 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Dutchman Roy Makaay gave Bayern the lead after just 40 second following good work from strike partner Claudio Pizarro.
But Bixente Lizarazu fouled South Korean star Cha Du-Ri on the stroke of half-time, allowing Ervin Skela to level from the penalty spot.
Bayer Leverkusen, who had been one of three teams behind Werder on 35 points at the start of play, travel to Freiburg on Sunday.
