Bayern in top spot

Bayern Munich returned to the top of the German Bundesliga by clinching a 2-1 win away from home at the ground of their closest challengers Schalke.

Bayern had enjoyed a strong lead after Frank Ribery and Thomas Mueller netted two goals within two minutes in the first half.

Ribery broke the deadlock for the visitors on 25 minutes with a well-placed strike from 10 meters. Bayern doubled their tally immediately afterwards as an assist from Croatia international Ivica Olic allowed Mueller to sidefoot the ball into an empty net.

Five minutes later Schalke hit back with a header from striker Kevin Kuranyi - just before Bayern's Hamit Altintop handed the home side a huge advantage.

Two men sent off

Altintop was sent off after he picked up two yellow cards in rapid succession for an altercation with the referee's assistant and a late tackle on Brazilian defender Rafinha.

Schalke failed to capitalize on their numerical advantage and were themselves left with just ten men when Marcelo Bordon was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Bayern now have 59 points from their 29 games, compared to 58 for Schalke.

"This is a very important win but it was the minimum that we had to do. The next couple of matches are crucial," said Bayern captain Mark van Bommel.

Leverkusen lose on the road

Schalke's fellow title chasers Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-2 away from home against Eintracht Frankfurt. The result came despite two goals for Stefan Kiessling who, with Kuranyi, is joint top scorer in the league.

Selim Teber put Frankfurt in front with a penalty before Kiessling scored his brace. Leverkusen were forced to play almost all of the second half with 10 men after defender Daniel Schwaab was sent off for a tackle from behind.

Caio was able to fire in an unstoppable effort from 30 meters to level the score for Frankfurt, who won the game a minute from time with a close-range overhead kick from Maik Franz.

Dortmund tighten hold

Borussia Dortmund strengthened their grip on fourth spot with a 2-1 win against fifth-placed Werder Bremen.

Kevin Grosskreutz and Neven Subotic both scored first half headers for Dortmund, while Bremen forward Aaron Hunt pulled one back for his team half way through the second half.

Stuttgart finished up level on points with Hamburg after a 2-1 victory against Moenchengladbach. Meanwhile there was a 1-1 draw for Freiburg and Bochum, goals coming from Papiss Cisse and Christoph Dabrowski.

Bottom club Hertha Berlin kept their hopes of top-flight survival alive with a 3-0 victory away at Cologne.

Relegation worries for Nuremberg were eased with a 2-0 win over Mainz courtesy of goals from Mike Frantz and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Mainz played the bulk of the match with 10 men after the 4th minute dismissal of Andreas Ivanschitz.

rc/dpa/Reuters/AFP
Editor: Andreas Illmer