Leverkusen beats Hamburger SV 3-0 in Bundesliga

Stefan Kiessling victimized Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler for his 11th and 12th goals of the season.

Marius Becker/EPA

BERLIN (AP) -- Bundesliga top-scorer Stefan Kiessling scored two goals and set up another as Bayer Leverkusen beat Hamburger SV 3-0 on Saturday.

Kiessling took advantage of poor defending to open the scoring from close range in the 26th minute, and set up Andre Schuerrle 10 minutes later.

Kiessling scored his 12th goal of the season in the 66th to ensure an unhappy day for Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler on his first return to the club where he played for 12 seasons.

"After such a game you have to ask each and every one of us whether he's done all he can for success,'' Adler said. "Because what we've played here, that shouldn't happen. Sure, Leverkusen is a strong team, but we've shown in many games that we can do much better.''

Leverkusen closed the gap on leader Bayern Munich to nine points in the last round of games before the winter break.

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt won 2-0 at Wolfsburg, Mainz came from behind to beat Stuttgart 3-1, bottom sides Greuther Fuerth and Augsburg drew 1-1, and Fortuna Duesseldorf beat visiting Hannover 2-1.

Schalke was hosting Freiburg later Saturday.

Leverkusen remains undefeated at home after 14 games since joint coaches Sascha Lewandowski and Sami Hyypia took over.

Kiessling wasted little time in opening his account, and showed good footwork to play Schuerrle through to score in off the post.

Schuerrle had earlier struck the post with a curling effort, while Artjoms Rudnevs hit the post at the other end.

Kiessling made it 3-0 by holding off a weak challenge from Heiko Westermann to reach Bernd Leno's long kick out and lift it over the unfortunate Adler.

"To reach second place with so many good games shows how strong this team is, also mentally,'' Kiessling said. "But first it's the winter break and then there are still 17 hard games waiting for us.''

Alexander Meier headed Frankfurt into a 12th-minute lead in Wolfsburg when he connected with Pirmin Schwegler's free kick at the far post.

Wolfsburg midfielder Josue earned a direct red for a studs up-challenge on Oliver Occean four minutes later, and from the resulting free kick it got worse for the home side when Takashi Inui made it 2-0.

"I would have preferred it if my team thought about defense first,'' Wolfsburg interim coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner said. "You have to defend better than that against such a strong team.''

Frankfurt moved ahead of Borussia Dortmund, 12 points behind Bayern, though the defending champion can reclaim third place on goal difference with a win at Hoffenheim on Sunday.

"I'm very happy,'' Frankfurt coach Armin Veh said. "Especially now that I have a vacation.''

In Mainz, Stuttgart striker Martin Harnik headed past the despairing Heinz Mueller in the 48th, but Nicolai Mueller equalized with a looping shot seven minutes later.

Mueller produced a fantastic chip over Sven Ulreich before heading the ball to the empty net in the 71st, then his namesake denied Stuttgart an immediate response at the other end.

Elkin Soto finally decided the matter with an unstoppable shot to the top corner in injury time.

Neither Fuerth nor Augsburg will be happy after their scrappy draw, in which Sascha Moelders scored for Augsburg in the ninth, and Lasse Sobiech equalized an hour later.

Fuerth defender Mergim Mavraj was sent off for a second yellow in the 76th, before Augsburg's Giovanni Sio followed suit with a direct red in the 85th.

Both sides are 10 points adrift of safety.

"We have to live with the draw,'' Greuther Fuerth coach Mike Bueskens said. "The future will show whether we can live with it.''

Duesseldorf striker Dani Schahin scored with his side's first real chance in the 39th, only for Mame Biram Diouf, who missed a great chance in the first half, to deservedly equalize with a fierce drive inside the near post in the 69th.

But Diouf missed another golden opportunity when again he had only the goalkeeper to beat, and Denmark international Ken Ilso scored the winner from a perfect free kick with seven minutes remaining.