Van Nistelrooy at the double, Bayern make it nine

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BERLIN, Feb 13, 2010 (AFP) - Former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was in double form on only his second run out since joining Hamburg on Saturday.

The Dutch forward scored in the 75th and 77th minutes to add to Marcus Berg's first-half opener to lift Hamburg to a 3-1 win over Vfb Stuttgart that maintained their hold on fourth place.

Van Nistelrooy left Real Madrid on a free transfer in the January transfer window and has made an instant impression for his new team despite being well short of full fitness after spending much of the season in Spain on the bench.

Later Bayern Munich stretched their winning run in the league to nine games and 12 overall with a 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund to draw level on points with Bayer Leverkusen, who remain top by the slenderest of margins on goal difference -- 30 to 29.

Leverkusen, who have topped the table since October, held onto the lead with a 2-1 home win over reigning champions Vfl Wolfsburg.

Stefan Reinartz gave them a 48th-minute lead with an own goal from Andre Lenz increasing their advantage on 67 minutes when the Wolfsburg keeper knocked the ball over his own line after a rebound from Eren Derdiyok's header hit his leg.

Bosnia and Herzegovina striker Edin Dzeko gave Wolfsburg reason to hope 11 minutes from time but Leverkusen held on.

This was Wolfsburg's ninth match without a win and left them in a lowly 13th place.

Louis van Gaal's Bayern went into Saturday's late kick-off on a high after brushing aside second division Furth 6-2 in the German Cup in mid-week and with France international Franck Ribery fit to play after a four month league lay-off with injury.

They fell behind when Dortmund's Egyptian Africa Cup of Nations winner, Mohammed Zidan, struck in the fifth minute but Bayern captain Mark van Bommel grabbed a 21st-minute equaliser with a 20-yard thunderbolt.

The second half was only five minutes old when Ribery set up Dutch international Arjen Robben to tap in for his fifth goal in as many matches.

Mario Gomez completed a good day for Bayern with the third goal in the 65th minute.

Bottom club Hertha Berlin grabbed a point against mid-table Mainz 05 but remain four points off second-from-bottom side Nuremberg, who lost 2-1 to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday.

On Sunday, third-placed Schalke 04 are out to maintain their title challenge at home to Cologne.