Ismaël inspires Bremen victory

Late winner
With only six matches left after today, Bremen knew that victory would take them a big step closer to the title however Bayern fared against FC Schalke 04. But the first half was only marked by two red cards as Eintracht striker Ioannis Amanatidis and Bremen midfield player Ümit Davala were dismissed for fighting. With ten minutes left, though, Bremen striker Nelson Valdez was brought down by Alexander Schur just inside the box and French defender Ismaël converted the spot-kick.

'Sensational' Makaay
Bayern themselves managed a 2-1 win against Schalke. Roy Makaay was dubbed "sensational" by Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld after scoring both their goals on eight and 64 minutes, to turn a game they had trailed when Sven Vermant claimed a fourth-minute penalty. Makaay now has 22 goals in his debut Bundesliga season, only three behind Bremen's Ailton.

Six-goal Leverkusen
However, stars of the day were Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who secured their highest-ever Bundesliga home winning margin with a 6-0 triumph against 1. FC Kaiserlautern. A second-minute Timo Wenzel own goal was followed up before half-time by Dimitar Berbatov, Lucio and Franca. The latter added another in the 55th minute, by which stage Yildiray Bastürk had scored Leverkusen's fifth.

Challengers win
Leverkusen are fourth, within two points of the final UEFA Champions League berth held by VfB Stuttgart, who visit SC Freiburg tomorrow, while Schalke's defeat allowed VfL Bochum and BV Borussia Dortmund to move up to fifth and sixth respectively.

Hashemian double
Bochum beat TSV 1860 München 4-0, Vahid Hashemian scoring twice before the break and Peter Madsen and Mamadou Diabang adding second half-goals. Meanwhile Torsten Frings and Jan Koller were both on target in the first half-hour in Dortmund's 2-0 victory at Hamburger SV.

Stugglers triumph
1860 are now only two points above the bottom three after Hertha BSC Berlin overcame VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 thanks to a Nando Rafael goal. VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach also took a step towards safety after coming from behind to win 2-1 at FC Hansa Rostock, Joris Van Hout scoring the decider seven minutes from time.

Sunday encounter
With Kaiserslautern and Frankfurt both losing, much now rests on tomorrow's match between bottom side 1. FC Köln and 14th-placed Hannover 96.