Dutch star Arjen Robben hit a second-half wonder goal on Saturday as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 3-2 at Werder Bremen as the German giants went top of the league.
Robben's stunning direct free-kick gave Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern their sixth straight league win while the Holland star hit his fifth league goal of the season on his 26th birthday.
"I am a very happy coach," beamed van Gaal.
"Werder Bremen took a few risks and we exploited them this time.
"I liked that we played with so much aggression, but we didn't take all the chances we created."
Flying Dutch winger Robben, who signed for 24 million euros (33.9 million US dollars) from Real Madrid last summer, hit a curling free-kick which gave Bremen's Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese no chance of saving on 78 minutes.
Van Gaal slipped over on the sidelines in his joy at the winning goal just before his compatriot Robben leapt on top of him to celebrate taking first place in the league.
"It must have looked a bit bizarre the way we celebrated, but we were both pretty happy," grinned Robben.
"The win is important, it shows we are on the right path, we are playing good football."
It was a bitter blow for the home side who had opened the scoring after midfielder Aaron Hunt slotted home from close range after 10 minutes.
Bayern hit back when rising star Thomas Mueller scored after good work by Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on 25 minutes before Croatia striker Ivica Olic netted from a Philipp Lahm cross ten minutes later.
It left Bayern 2-1 up at the break as they welcomed back French midfielder Franck Ribery, who came on for Olic in the second-half to make his first appearance for Munich since suffering a knee injury on October 3.
Bremen equalised when Portugal striker Hugo Almeida slotted home a top-class goal on 75 minutes before Robben's stunning winner.
An injury time goal from Bochum's Slovakia striker Stanislav Sestak robbed Schalke of the chance to go top as the Royal Blues were held 2-2.
Schalke took the lead when Uruguay striker Vicente Sanchez converted a pass from Jefferson Farfan in the fifth minute before ex-Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi made it 2-0 to the hosts just before the half-time whistle.
The result left Felix Magath-coached Schalke third in the table, but second-placed Leverkusen have the chance to regain the lead on Sunday providing they win at Hoffenheim.
And defending champions Wolfsburg host struggling Cologne also on Sunday while fourth-placed Hamburg have the opportunity to get back into the league race if they win at fifth-placed Dortmund on Saturday night.
Having picked up only their second win of the season last weekend, bottom side Hertha Berlin were held 0-0 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Hertha's Czech Republic goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny kept his side in the game when he saved a first-half penalty from 'Gladbach's Venezuelan midfielder Juan Arango while Nuremberg drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Having taken over from Andreas Bergmann as coach last week, new Hanover boss Mirko Slomka got off to a losing start when his side were beaten 1-0 at mid-table Mainz - their eighth game without a win.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
