Hoffenhei m went back to the top of the Bundesliga o n Saturday with a 2-0 win over Energie Cottbus to prove they can cope without injured striker Vedad Ibisevic as their fairytale run continues.

Having won consecutive promotions in consecutive seasons, Hoffenheim are dazzling the league on their debut and finished 2008 top of the table.

The club from the tiny village in south-west Germany suffered a potentially fatal blow a fortnight ago when 18-goal striker Ibisevic was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

But Senegal striker Demba Ba and forward Boubacar Sanogo, who was signed from Werder Bremen this month to replace Ibisevic, scored to seal Hoffenheim's 2-0 win over Cottbus to open the club's new Rhein-Neckar-Arena stadium, as well as their second half of the season, in style.

"I am very happy with the result," said Hoffenheim coach Ralph Rangnick

"It was important we had

patience against Cottbus and we got the two goals from superiority in the air. The team deserves a big compliment for the way they played."

Ibisevic is expected to be out for six months, but in his absence Hoffenheim have now won 12 of their 18 games so far and have a goal difference of 21.

With Hamburg humbling defending champions Bayem Munich on Friday, Hoffenheim carried on after the six-week winter break where they left off and dominated strugglers Cottbus.

Rangnick gave a debut to former Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand who was playing his first game back in the Bundesliga after an 18-month absence since his unsuccessful move to Valencia.

Hertha Berlin took their chance to go second in the table with a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Olympic Stadium with two goals from striker Marko Pantelfc, while Brazilian midfielder Cicero missed a first-half penalty.

Frankfurt midfielder Benjamin Koehler scored a consolation goal on 55 minutes.

"We earned the right to go 1 -0 ahead and missed the penalty to go 2-0 up," said Berlin coach Lucien Favre.

"In the second half, we made it 2-0 and although Frankfurt came back at us, we withstood the pressure. We are naturally relieved and very content"

Hamburg led the Bundesliga for less than 24 hours after beating Bayem 1-0 with a single first-half goal from striker Mladen Petrie.

But Hoffenheim and Hertha's wins put Hamburg third while Bayem drop from second to fourth.

Schalke 04's slump continued as they were humbled 1-0 by Hanover and VfB Stuttgart brushed off the German Football Federation (DFB) announcement coach Markus Babbel will have to stand down with a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Former Germany defender Babbel took over from sacked Armin Veh last November, but without his coaching licence, the DFB insist he must stand down to get the qualification. The win left Stuttgart seventh.

Borussia Dortmund arc sixth thanks to their 1-1 draw with Bayern Lerkusen, while mid-tabic sides Cologne and Wolfsburg shared a point each Ina 1-1 draw.

On Sunday, Werder Bremen are home to Arminia Bielefeld while VfL Bochum host Karlsruhe.