Hamburg - Bayer Leverkusen threw away a 3-0 lead in a 3-3 draw at SC Karlsruhe on Saturday as they failed to go top again in the Bundesliga standings.

Patrick Helmes, Stefan Kiessling and Michal Kadlec were on target in the opening 24 minutes for Leverkusen who appeared on course for a fifth straight victory.

But Karlsruhe rallied from Anthony da Silva, Tim Sebastian and Alexander Iashvili to earn a point after losing the previous five matches.

"We wanted three points and gave away two. We played very bad in the second half," said Kadlec.

TSG Hoffenheim retained first place on 25 points. They have the same number of points and goal difference as Leverkusen, but have scored two goals more than their rivals. The Bundesliga rookies can move three points clear if they get a sixth straight win on Sunday at Hertha Berlin.

SV Hamburg are third with 23 points from a 2-1 victory against Borussia Dortmund, with champions Bayern Munich on 21 points and Schalke 04 on 20 ahead of their Sunday duel in Gelsenkirchen.

Leverkusen came to Karlsruhe off four straight 2-0 victories and had a flying start there as Helmes scored his ninth goal of the season off a fine feed from Arturo Vidal just 33 seconds into the game.

Kiessling doubled the lead with a 17th-minute header and Kadlec's curling freekick in the 24th for 3-0 seemed to settle matters.

But Leverkusen and Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler was then beaten for the first time in five matches when Kiessling deflected da Silva's freekick in the 37th.

Sebastian cut the deficit to one on the hour and Iashvili completed the surprise comeback by heading the equalizer in the 76th.

"It was a deserved draw because of the second half. You can see what's possible in football. That is possible if you believe in yourself," said Sebastian.

Hamburg rebounded from a 3-0 drubbing at lowly Hanover with the win over Dortmund.

Former Dortmund forward Mladen Petric nodded home the opening goal in the ninth minute and then fed fellow-Croatian Ivica Olic for Hamburg's second in the 34th.

Tamas Hajnal struck for Dortmund early in the second half but Hamburg hung on to win. Dortmund's Robert Kovac was red-carded after the final whistle for insulting the referee.

"We fought well and showed a good attitude. I am very satisfied," said Hamburg coach Martin Jol.

Elsewhere, Grafite scored a hattrick as VfL Wolfsburg defeated bottom club Energie Cottbus 3-0. Borussia Moenchengladbach left the drop zone with a 2-0 victory at Arminia Bielefeld from Marko Marin's double.

Werder Bremen were held 0-0 at lowly VfL Bochum three days after their 3-0 Champions League disaster against Panathinaikos Athens. Naldo was denied by the crossbar and Bremen's frustration culminated in a late red card for Mesut Ozil.

Cologne defeated Hanover 2-1 on Friday and the third Sunday game is a mid-table tie between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart. (dpa)