Germany round-up: Stuttgart fail to take advantage

Second-placed VfB Stuttgart missed the opportunity to move to within eight points of 1. Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern München as they were defeated 3-1 at struggling VfL Bochum 1848.

Early advantage
Bayern lost 1-0 at BV Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, giving Stuttgart the chance to close the gap, and the game began well as striker Kevin Kuranyi opened the scoring for the away side after 25 minutes.

Two for Hashemian
However, Bochum were level before half-time, as Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian equalised in the 40th minute, before the same player put the home side in front six minutes past the hour, and two minutes later the points were virtually secured as Thomas Christiansen added a third.

Stuttgart setback
The victory moved Bochum up to 13th place, four points above the relegation zone, while Stuttgart remained in second place, eleven points behind Bayern. Meanwhile, Bayer 04 Leverkusen slipped further into trouble with a 3-1 defeat at home by FC Schalke 04. 

Lucio boost
Leverkusen began brightly, and took the lead after nine minutes through Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov. However, despite the return of Leverkusen's Brazilian defender Lucio, Schalke equalised within three minutes through Jörg Böhme.

Sand scores
Danish international striker Ebbe Sand gave Schalke the lead after 61 minutes, and, as Leverkusen pressed forward in search of an equaliser, Gerald Asamoah sealed an away victory for Schalke with a third goal in the final minute.

Relegation trouble
Leverkusen remained in 16th place, three points away from safety, while Schalke stepped up their challenge for a European place, moving into fifth place.