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Important day in the Bundesliga was Sunday - "Schalke" team defeated "Bayern" in a clash of leaders and climbed to the first position, thus ending the league's duopoly, while "Stuttgart" moved up to third place.
1 - 0
69' [1 - 0] Lincoln
One of the most important matches of the German football season took place at the "Auf Schalke" arena in Gelsenkirchen. The hosts were determined to avenge the failure they experienced in 2001 when "Bayern" snatched the champions title with a last-minute equalizer against "Hamburg."
"Schalke" players took the initiative from the beginning and in the ninth minute, after a pass from Lincoln, Ailton had a chance, but his first shot with his feet was saved by goalkeeper O. Kahn, who did the same with a shot from E. Sand, and on the third attempt the Brazilian forward sent the ball over the goal.
Fatigued from the Champions League round of 16 second leg, "Bayern" could not keep up with their opponents and had only one opportunity in the first half, when P. Guerrero intercepted the ball in the penalty area and shot straight at the goalkeeper. However, the goalkeeper had to be nervous again after 7 minutes, when C. Pizarro's shot deflected off a defender and landed in the top of the goal.
"Bayern" came to life on the field after B. Schweinsteiger entered the pitch in the second half, but it was "Schalke" who broke the deadlock in the 69th minute - Brazilian Lincoln scored from a penalty shot about 18 meters away, beating the Bavarian goalkeeper O. Kahn.
Later on, the hosts almost doubled their lead after another penalty shot, but this time Kahn deflected a powerful attempt from M. Bordon. "Bayern" was forced to surrender and with nine rounds left until the end of the season, they dropped to the second position in the league table with a three-point gap from their rivals.
0 - 2
43' [0 - 1] Silvio Meissner
90' [0 - 2] Silvio Meissner (pen.)
48' Fernando Meira ("Stuttgart"), 90' Christian Worns ("Borussia") sent off the field
In the other matches of the day, "Stuttgart" achieved victory on the road by defeating "Borussia" in Dortmund. "Stuttgart" took the lead after S. Meissner's goal just before the break, and although the visitors played with ten men from the 48th minute due to F. Meira's dismissal, they managed to fend off the opponent's attacks.
Furthermore, in the 90th minute, the Stuttgart team extended their lead when, after receiving a red card, the home team's player C. Worns, S. Meissner converted a penalty kick. "Stuttgart" climbed to the third position and is trailing by five points from the second-placed "Bayern," while "Borussia" remains in twelfth place.
