Hamburg - Werder Bremen needed a late equalizer from Per Mertesacker to somehow salvage a 2-2 at home to VfL Wolfsburg Saturday and move top of the German Bundesliga. Edin Dzeko twice put Wolfsburg in front but first Hugo Almeida and then a Mertesacker header in time added on secured a vital point for Thomas Schaaf's side.
The result sees Bremen move onto 27 points, ahead of Bayer Leverkusen on goal difference. Third-placed Schalke 04 can leapfrog Bremen and Leverkusen with victory against Borussia Moenchengladbach later Saturday while Leverkusen face struggling VfB Stuttgart Sunday.
SV Hamburg, whose stumbling form continued with a 1-1 draw at Mainz 05, sit fourth on 24 points, one clear of Hoffenheim, who lost 2-1 to Dortmund.
Jakub Blaszczykowski put Dortmund in front after just two minutes, calmly slotting the ball past Timo Hildebrand after being put clear by Barrios.
Demba Ba levelled matters four minutes after the restart but Nuri Sahin secured all three points for Dortmund 11 minutes from time from the penalty spot.
SC Freiburg bounced back from last week's 6-0 mauling by Bremen with a 1-0 victory at home to Nuremberg, Stefan Reising netting the winning goal after 12 minutes.
Hertha Berlin remain firmly rooted at the bottom of the table after going down 3-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt courtesy of goals from Patrick Ochs, Maik Franz and Alexander Meier. Adrian Ramos netted a late consolation for Hertha.
VfL Bochum and Cologne drew 0-0 on Friday night, a result that helped neither of the troubled clubs, while Hanover 96 entertain Bayern Munich on Sunday.
