Bayern, Hamburg drop further behind in title race

Both ten-man Bayern Munich and Hamburg suffered blows in the Bundesliga title race when they fell to shock defeats on Saturday to hand leaders Wolfsburg a chance to open a five-point gap on Sunday.

Bayern’s 1-0 defeat at home to Schalke leaves the defending champions in third and three points off leaders Wolfsburg who can go five points clear if they beat Energie Cottbus on Sunday.

Hamburg’s 2-0 defeat at Dortmund puts Martin Jol’s side back in fifth.

Hertha Berlin are now second in the league after badboy midfielder Patrick Ebert hit the first-half goal which sealed his side’s 1-0 win at Hoffenheim on Friday.

Before the Schalke game, Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said he would be content to finish second in the league and the runner-up spot now looks more realistic with five league games left.

Bayern fell behind when Schalke’s Turkey striker Halil Altintop headed home from only four metres after 21 minutes.

With his side 1-0 down at half-time at Munich’s Allianz Arena, coach Jurgen Klinsmann was booed by his own fans as he walked to the dressing room.

Schalke were lucky to keep Jermaine Jones on the pitch when he hit Bayern captain Mark van Bommel in the face on 38 minutes and the Germany midfielder was shown a yellow card.

But Jones was not so lucky when he brought van Bommel down on the edge of the penalty area on 70 minutes to earn his second yellow and the consequential red.

But Bayern were also reduced to ten men when French midfielder Franck Ribery was shown a second yellow card after a tackle on Schalke’s Jefferson Farfan on 76 minutes.

Jurgen Klopp-coached Dortmund have now won five league games on the trot and are up to seventh in the table after their 2-0 win over Hamburg.

Hamburg went behind when the ball was played in from the left and midfielder Sebastian Kehl shot past Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost after 32 minutes and Swiss striker Alexander Frei then converted a 90th-minute penalty.

Stuttgart are fourth in the table after strikers Cacau and Mario Gomez scored in the 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt which keeps them in the five-way title race.

Despite having reached next month’s German Cup final and set to play the semi-final of the UEFA Cup this week, Werder Bremen’s Jekyll and Hyde looked to have continued as they fell 2-0 behind at Bochum.

But second-half goals by striker Hugo Almeida, Brazil defender Naldo and midfielder Diego gave them a 3-2 win, which leaves them 10th in the table, as they prepare for Thursday’s UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Hamburg.

Bottom side Karlsruhe gave themselves a chance of staying up after beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 with one of the luckiest goals of the season.

Karlsruhe defender Sebastian Langkamp lunged at the ball on the halfway line to try to win possession, but got more than he could have dreamed of when the ball curled over the Leverkusen defence and goalkeeper Rene Adler into the net.

His 72nd-minute goal leaves Karlsruhe just one point behind relegation rivals Borussia Moenchengladbach and Energie Cottbus both of whom play on Sunday while midtable Hanover enjoyed a 2-0 win over Cologne.

Leaders Woflsburg are at Cottbus on Sunday while ‘Gladbach host Arminia Bielefeld.