Hannover climbed to third in the Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory over struggling Cologne at the AWD-Arena. The hosts made a flying start to the match and were 2-0 up inside 15 minutes, thanks to Didier Konan's early brace. Martin Lanig pulled one back for the visitors five minutes from time, but Die Roten held on to secure their fifth win in nine games this season.

The victory moved Hannover on to 16 points, five shy of pacesetters Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, each of whom have a game in hand. Cologne, meanwhile, sit second-bottom after their sixth defeat of the season.

Claudio Pizarro scored a historic goal as Werder Bremen crushed Borussia Monchengladbach 4-1 to continue their march up the table.

Marko Marin gave Werder the lead on five minutes and Wesley made it 2-0 in the 13th minute. Aaron Hunt extended the lead to 3-0 after 51 minutes, before Per Mertesacker's own-goal in the 67th minute gave the hosts some hope. But Pizarro re-established the three-goal advantage in the 75th minute with his 134th goal in the Bundesliga, becoming the outright top scoring foreign-born player in division's history, having already being level with Giovane Elber.

Werder have collected three wins and a draw in their last four games. They are now eighth, seven points off the pace.

Problems mount for FCK, Die Wölfe
Freiburg came from behind to condemn Kaiserslautern to a fifth straight Bundesliga defeat at the Badenova-Stadion. Jan Moravek put the visitors ahead in the eighth minute, only for Papiss Demba Cisse to level ten minutes before the break. Stefan Reisinger completed the turnaround to secure a 2-1 win on the hour mark.

Nurnberg continued their up-and-down season with a 2-1 home victory over Wolfsburg. Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but Grafite equalised for the visitors just before the half-hour mark. Mike Frantz hit the deciding goal for Nurnberg in the 63rd minute as Die Wölfe saw their winless run extend to three games.

In the day's other game, Eintracht Frankfurt and struggling Schalke shared a goalless draw at the Commerzbank-Arena.