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The leaders of the Bundesliga, Gelzenkirchen's "Schalke", lost at home 0-1 on Sunday to Leverkuzen's "Bayer", who are in eighth place, with the hero of the match being Stefan Kiessling, who scored the only goal. In other Sunday matches, third-placed Bremen's "Werder" played a draw away against the championship's outsider, Monchengladbach's "Borussia".
The "Schalke" players, who could have increased their lead to seven points in the match against "Bayer", wasted several opportunities, and the excellent goal by S. Kiessling meant that the Gelzenkirchen club did not earn any points. Moreover, the club may face problems due to the behavior of their attacking midfielder, Brazilian Lincoln - he was shown a red card after the match, supposedly for hitting opponent Bernd Schneider.
Nevertheless, "Werder" failed to take full advantage of "Schalke's" misfortune, by playing a 2-2 draw with Monchengladbach's "Borussia". The visitors had already believed in their victory, but even in the fourth minute of added time, Nando Rafael scored the equalizing goal.
After the 23rd round, "Schalke" remained the leader of the championship with 49 points, leading ahead of their nearest pursuers, "Stuttgart", by four points. However, the club earned only one point in the last two matches.
On Friday, "Stuttgart" played a goalless draw at home against Berlin's "Hertha", and moved to second place, overtaking "Werder" by two points.
In this round, the only team from the top four to celebrate a victory were the players of Munich's "Bayern", who defeated "Wolfsburg" 2-1 at home on Saturday. After this victory, the multiple German champions remained in fourth place with 40 points, but now only three points separate them from a ticket to the UEFA Champions League. Moreover, considering that there are still 11 rounds left until the end of the championship, "Bayern" does not lose at least theoretical hopes of winning a third consecutive championship title.
Statistics
Monchengladbach's "Borussia" 2 - 2 Bremen's "Werder" 11' [0 - 1] Pierre Wome 17' [1 - 1] Michael Delura 84' [1 - 2] Jurica Vranjes 90' [2 - 2] Nando Rafael
Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke" 0 - 1 Leverkuzen's "Bayer" 85' [0 - 1] Stefan Kiessling
After the match, a red card was shown to Lincoln ("Schalke")
Top Scorers
1. Mario Gomez ("Stuttgart") - 13; 2-5. Kevin Kuranyi ("Schalke") - 11; 2-5. Roy Makaay ("Bayern") - 11; 2-5. Miroslav Klose ("Werder") - 11; 2-5. Marko Pantelic ("Hertha") - 11; 6. Theofani Gekas ("Bochum") - 10.
League table
