Hannover 96 saw their form run blown apart by Energie Cottbus, Gregg Berhalter scored in an 1860 romp and St. Pauli edged out Mainz.

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HIGH ENERGIE PERFORMANCE DOWNS 96
A week after upsetting Werder Bremen, Hannover 96 succumbed to a shock of its own, receiving a 5-1 beating at the hands of 17th place Energie Cottbus to fall from the top five.

American fullback Steve Cherundolo played out the full 90 in his customary role at the back, while compatriot Sal Zizzo is away on Under-23 National Team duty.

Energie started off the rout in the 11th minute when well-traveled French midfielder Christian Bassila headed home at the near post from a corner, with Hannover defender Thomas Kleine losing his marker.

Dennis Sörensen made it two in the 30th minute, heading home from Dimitar Rangelov's driven cross. Fourteen minutes thereafter, the Bulgarian ace added a third to the cause after working himself onto Sörensen's through ball.

After the half, Energie continued to exert pressure on the visitors, with Stanislav Angelov testing Die Röten keeper Robert Enke in the 53rd minute. They would add a fourth in the 65th minute when former HSV defender Daniel Ziebig made a brilliant run, weaving through the Hannover defense before shooting into the back of the net.

One consolation goal would come the way of Hannover, with Kleine heading in from a Szabolcs Huszti free kick before they'd leak a final goal at the other end, Rangelov sealing an unlikely victory for the cellar dwellers.

When action resumes after the winter break in February, Hannover start off with a stern test in the form of rivals HSV.

Scoring
EC - Christian Bassila 2 11'
EC - Dennis Sörensen 4 (Dimitar Rangelov) 30'
EC - Dimitar Rangelov 4 (Dennis Sörensen) 44'
EC - Daniel Ziebig 1 (Ervin Skela) 65'
H96 - Thomas Kleine 1 (Szabolcs Huszti) 69'
EC - Dimitar Rangelov 5 (Timo Rost) 70'

Line-ups
EC - Gerhard Tremmel; Vragel da Silva, Igor Mitreski, Mario Cvitanović, Daniel Ziebig, Christian Bassila, Stanislav Angelov, Timo Rost, Ervin Skela (Stiven Rivić 89'), Dimitar Rangelov (Shao Jiayi 84'), Dennis Sörensen

H96 - Robert Enke; Steve Cherundolo, Vinicius, Thomas Kleine, Michael Tarnat (Jan Rosenthal 46'), Altin Lala (Vahid Hashemian 46'), Christian Schulz, Szalbocs Huszti, Sergio Pinto, Gaeten Krebs (Jiří Štajner 61'), Mike Hanke

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EGER POSTS WIN FOR PAULI
The Anarchists of St. Pauli grabbed some vital points to stave off threat from relegation with a 1-0 win over second place Mainz.

American youth international Neven Subotić suited up at the back for Mainz, while Pauli left back Ian Joy was not included in the match squad.

Mainz started the brighter of the two, with last week's goal-scorer Félix Borja testing Pauli netminder Patrick Borger in just the third minute of play.

At the other end, Filip Trojan tested coach Jürgen Klopp's Reds with a 16th minute drive before Marcel Eger found the back of the net four minutes later after capitalizing on Subotić's poor marking to head home from Alexander Ludwig's corner.

Trojan continued to exert himself on the proceedings, twice forcing the Mainz rearguard into a panic; first with a powered drive in the 23rd minute before forcing keeper Daniel Ischdonat into a fine save from a direct free kick 12 minutes later.

Markus Feulner tried to claim at least a point for the visitors, forcing Borger to react in the 68th minute.

The veteran keeper came up big again in the dying seconds, with Mainz pressing hard for an equalizer. Miroslav Karhan came close, but Pauli would hold on to the lead.

After the winter break, Pauli travel to Köln, while Klopp's men hop the bus to Josh Grenier's Koblenz.

Scoring
STP - Marcel Eger 2 (Alexander Ludwig) 20'

Line-ups
STP - Patrik Borger; Carsten Rothenbach, Fabio Morena, Marcel Eger, Ralph Gunesch, Fabian Boll, Thomas Meggle, Florian Bruns, Filip Trojan (Timo Schultz 80'), Alexander Ludwig (Morike Sako 63'), Ahmet Kuru (Ömer Sismanoglu 90')

MNZ - Daniel Ischdonat; Tim Hoogland (Srdjan Baljak 73'), Neven Subotić, Nikolce Noveski, Christian Demirtas (Wellington Silva 67'), Miroslav Karhan, Daniel Gunkel (Stefan Markolf 46'), Milorad Peković, Markus Feulner, Félix Borja, Chadli Amri

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LIONS GET THEIR ROAR BACK
1860 Munich reclaimed their step by posting a resounding 5-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue at the Allianz Arena.

For American defender Gregg Berhalter, the romp amounted to an eighth clean sheet of the season, with the defender instrumental at the back this season. Compatriot Josh Wolff joined the team sheet as a substitute, starting in the 72nd minute.

The club from Munich started the rout in the 13th minute when captain Danny Schwarz cleverly played in Daniel Bierofka with a through ball, the former Stuttgart midfielder creating room before lofting his shot into the top left corner.

Daniel Gebhart was fouled in the box in the 42nd minute, after which usual penalty taker Berhalter calmly doubled the score from the spot.

Striker José Holebas scored his first of the campaign in the 63rd minute, working a calculated left-footed effort in past keeper Axel Keller.

Just a minute later, Mustafa Kučuković added a fourth with Bierofka playing provider before the veteran playmaker scored his second of the match six minutes later, collecting a rebound and directing it goalward from 10 yards out.

With time running out, 1860 seemed content with a five-goal haul and will be looking to maintain this momentum when play resumes following the winter break, with a trip to Alemannia Aachen on the agenda.

Scoring
1860 - Daniel Bierofka 3 (Danny Schwarz) 13'
1860 - Gregg Berhalter 4 (PK) 42'
1860 - José Holebas 1 (Danny Schwarz) 63'
1860 - Mustafa Kučuković 2 (Daniel Bierofka) 64'
1860 - Daniel Bierofka 4 (José Holebas) 70'

Line-ups
1860 - Michael Hofmann; Fabian Johnson, Markus Thorandt, Gregg Berhalter, Torben Hoffmann, Danny Schwarz, Sven Bender, Daniel Bierofka (Manuel Duhnke 85'), Timo Gebhart, José Holebas (Josh Wolff 72'), Mustafa Kučuković

AUE - Axel Keller; Norman Loose, Tomasz Kos, Thomas Paulus, Hendrik Liebers, Tom Geißler, Jörg Emmerich, Nicolas Feldhahn, René Trehkopf, Jiří Kaufman (Kevin Hampf 52'), Tomás Klinka

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VIOLETS DRAW FELLOW STRUGGLERS
Despite a Thomas Reichenberger hat trick, VfL Osnabrück failed to hold onto all three points, conceding late in a 3-3 draw with fellow league survivalists Kickers Offenbach.

Longtime club servant Joe Enochs came on as a substitute with the aim to shore up the defense for all three points, but both sides would take a share of the spoils.

The home side opened the scoring in the 19th minute after starting the brighter of the two sides, with Timo Toppmöller testing the defense early in the ninth minute. For the opener, Manual Hornig worked his way through the confusion to head Thorsten Judt's corner into the back of the net.

Reichenberger would reply in the 34th minute, when Marcel Schuon's shot deflected wickedly off of the in-form striker's hip and past a helpless Cesar Thier.

The hit man struck again in the 55th minute, heading to redirect Paul Thomik's lofted ball before notching his 12th of the season just two minutes later.

With the Violets up 3-1, all three points looked likely to head back to the Osnatel, but Offenbach had other ideas.

Suat Türker halved the difference in the 69th after being plucked out by Toppmöller in the middle of the penalty area.

Then, with just five minutes to go, the home side carved the equalizer, much to the chagrin of the traveling supporters. Toppmöller was picked out by Maximilian Watzka's cross, with the striker finding the back of the net for the fifth time this season.

Enochs and the Violets travel to SC Freiburg when the second half of the season kicks off in February.

Scoring
KO - Manuel Hornig 1 (Thorsten Judt) 19'
OSN - Thomas Reichenberger 10 (Marcel Schuon) 34'
OSN - Thomas Reichenberger 11 (Paul Thomik) 55'
OSN - Thomas Reichenberger 12 (Rouwen Hennings) 57'
KO - Suat Türker 5 (Dino Toppmöller) 69'
KO - Dino Toppmöller 5 (Maximillian Watzka) 85'

Line-ups
KO - Cesar Thier; Christian Müller, Manuel Hornig, Martin Hysky, Bastian Pinske (Anestis Agritis 75'), Stephan Sieger (Qualid Mokhtari 59'), Marco Reich (Maximillian Watzka 59'), Thorsten Judt, Benjamin Baier, Suat Türker, Dino Toppmöller

OSN - Freddy Gößling; Paul Thomik (Dominique Ndjeng 90'), Thomas Cichon, Jan Schanda, Andreas Schäfer, Marcel Schuon (Joe Enochs 71'), Mathias Surmann, Henning Grieneisen, Gaetano Manno, Rouwen Hennings, Thomas Reichenberger (Nico Frommer 68')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Kamani Hill took no part at Wolfsburg hit Borussia Dortmund for four in a 4-0 triumph.

Josh Grenier failed to make it off the bench as TuS Koblenz held Alemannia Aachen to a scoreless home draw.