Ten-man Hanover halt Hamburg's title bid

HAMBURG, Germany -- Hamburg's German Bundesliga title bid suffered a big blow after being held 1-1 at home by 10-man Hanover on Saturday.

Coach Huub Stevens's side slipped to fourth in table on goal difference behind Bayer Leverkusen, and six points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich -- who beat Hansa Rostock 2-1 on Friday.

Hanover's Hungarian midfielder Szabolcs Huszti put his side ahead with a penalty just before half-time before Hamburg's Croatian striker Ivica Olic bagged his eighth league goal of the season and the visitors had Sergio Pinto dismissed late in the game.

"I want to completely forget the first half very quickly," Dutch coach Stevens said. "We made the opposition look good and showed no passion. After the break, we played much better and managed to pick up a point."

Leverkusen had German striker Simon Rolfes to thank after he converted a late penalty to give his side a 3-2 win at second-bottom Energie Cottbus.

Bottom club Duisburg twice blew a two-goal lead in the 3-3 draw with mid-table Borussia Dortmund.

Duisburg led 2-0 and 3-1 before Diego Fernando Klimowicz headed home on 70 minutes and leveled in injury-time to earn Dortmund a point.

Nuremberg stayed in the bottom three after a 2-0 defeat at Karlsruhe, who climbed up to fifth.

Hertha Berlin were humbled 3-0 at home by mid-table rivals Eintracht Frankfurt, while Arminia Bielefeld were beaten 1-0 at home to Wolfsburg.

On Sunday, second-placed Werder Bremen will seek to join Bayern on 39 points with victory at home to lowly Bochum, while ninth-placed defending champions Stuttgart are at sixth-placed Schalke 04.

Meanwhile, Bayern have been drawn against Munich rivals 1860 in the quarterfinals of the German Cup next month.

Bayern booked their place in the last eight with a 5-2 win at third division Wuppertaler last week, while 1860 put out fellow second division side Alemannia Aachen 3-2, and the sides will meet at the Allianz Arena on February 26.

In the round's only all-Bundesliga clash, Wolfsburg drew Hamburg, while last year's finalists Stuttgart will face second-division Carl Zeiss Jena.

Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund will also face second division side 1899 Hoffenheim. E-mail to a friend

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