Germany winger Piotr Trochowski scored his second consecutive goal of the week as Hamburg went back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at home to Schalke 04 on Sunday.
Hoffenheim had briefly knocked Hamburg from top spot on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Hanover, but Hamburg’s draw with Schalke gave Martin Jol’s side the single point needed to go top.
“We are back at the top again, which is pleasing, but with a bit of luck we could have won the game,” Jol said. “It would have been easier if we had scored two goals in the first half and taken our chances. After the break we couldn’t exert any pressure on Schalke, that is something I am not happy about and is something we need to work on.”
PHOTO: AP
Fresh from scoring the winner in Germany’s 1-0 win over Wales in their World Cup qualifier in midweek, Trochowski used his deadly right foot to great effect again when he fired home on 29 minutes. But Schalke 04 leveled just three minutes after the break, when 20-year-old defender Benedikt Hoewedes got on the end of a free-kick from Jefferson Farfan to head past Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost.
There was plenty of vocal support from Schalke fans when Royal Blues striker Kevin Kuranyi was substituted on 62 minutes in his first appearance since walking out on Germany the week before during the 2-1 win over Russia.
Hamburg should have taken the lead seconds later when substitute Mladen Petric smashed his shot straight onto the post and could only watch as the ball rebounded to safety.
The draw leaves Hamburg a point clear on 17 points, with Schalke sixth in the table.
German Bundesliga
Team P GD PTS
1 Hamburg 8 3 17
2 TSG Hoffenheim 8 7 16
3 Bayer Leverkusen 8 9 15
4 Hertha Berlin 8 1 14
5 Wolfsburg 8 6 13
6 Schalke 04 8 4 13
7 VfB Stuttgart 8 3 13
8 Borussia Dortmund 8 2 13
9 Cologne 8 -1 13
10 Werder Bremen 8 3 12
11 Bayern Munich 8 3 12
12 Karlsruhe 7 -3 9
13 Hannover 96 8 -7 8
14 VfL Bochum 8 -1 7
15 Arminia Bielefeld 8 -6 6
16 Cottbus 8 -8 5
17 Borussia M’gladbach 8 -9 4
18 Eintracht Frankfurt 7 -6 3
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