Kiessling lifts Leverkusen into third place

(CNN) -- Germany striker Stefan Kiessling scored twice to help Bayer Leverkusen beat bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 to move up to third place in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

First-half goals by Kiessling put Leverkusen into a 2-0 lead at half-time and they never looked back as his international team-mate Patrick Helmes added a third early in the second-half.

Teenager Tony Jantschke marked his Bundesliga debut with a consolation goal for the home side. "That was an important victory," said Leverkusen
coach Bruno Labbadia.

"In the Bundesliga, you have to fight hard against every team you come up against. Gladbach made life hard for us and we had to work hard for every scrap of the pitch. We did that and we are back in the hunt for the league title now."

Leverkusen are three points behind joint leaders Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich -- who won 2-1 in the clash between the top two on Friday -- at the top of the table.

Hertha Berlin, who had won their previous three straight Bundesliga games, were beaten 1-0 at Schalke to drop to fourth, with Gerald Asamoah scoring the only goal for the Royal Blues.

Greece striker Nikos Liberopoulos scored two first-half goals, equalizing with a penalty and then adding a header to help lift Eintracht Frankfurt up to 11th after their 4-0 win over Bochum.

Two goals in two second-half minutes from midfielder Markus Steinhoefer and defender Marco Russ sealed the rout.

Stuttgart's new coach Markus Babbel has now won his first two games in charge, after taking over from Armin Veh, as his side strolled to a 3-0 win at Energie Cottbus thanks to an opening first-half goal from Roberto Hilbert.

Czech Republic midfielder Jan Simak made the result safe with an ice-cool finish before Sami Khedira also scored to make the result safe at 3-0. The defeat leaves Cottbus just above the relegation zone, while Stuttgart are up to eighth.

There was more frustration for struggling Werder Bremen who were beaten 1-0 at Karlsruhe after Stefan Buck fired home in the closing minutes.

Bremen were then reduced to 10 men in injury time when on-loan Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro was shown a straight red card for striking Martin Stoll.

The defeat drops Bremen down to ninth in the table and is hardly the ideal preparation for the visit of Inter Milan on Tuesday in the Champions League.