Schalke and Stuttgart stutter

FC Schalke 04 missed the chance to open up a six-point gap at the top of the Bundesliga as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Hannover 96 but VfB Stuttgart were unable to take advantage as they drew 0-0 with VfL Wolfsburg.

Flying start
With their nearest challengers, Werden Bremen, in action tomorrow against fellow title hopefuls FC Bayern München, Schalke looked to seize the initiative at Hannover and made a flying start when Halil Altıntop gave them the lead after just two minutes. But any hopes that the goal would settle the nerves of the leaders, who had lost their previous two home games in the league, were quickly dispelled as Michael Tarnat levelled two minutes later.

Stuttgart blank
With Schalke drawing, Stuttgart could have moved to within two points of top spot, and into second place, with a win against Wolfsburg but they drew a blank for the second home game running in the league. Hertha BSC Berlin’s hopes of returning to the UEFA Cup next season suffered a blow as they lost 3-1 to the bottom club VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Bochum success
VfL Bochum 1848 moved out of the bottom three with a 2-0 win against BV Borussia Dortmund - both goals coming from Theofanis Gekas – but DSC Arminia Bielefeld remain deep in trouble after a 1-0 loss at 1. FSV Mainz 05, for whom Leon Andreasen scored the only goal from the penalty spot. TSV Alemannia Aachen, who started the day one point above the drop zone, moved into the top half via an incident-packed 2-0 win at FC Energie Cottbus, Sergio Pinto adding to Sascha Rösler's opener late on.