But then Stuttgart struck with two goals in two minutes. Zvonimir Soldo found the net in a goalmouth melee after a corner and Imre Szabics further closed the gap in the 32nd.
Bayern Munich again produced a pale performance, while Moenchengladbach gave new coach Horst Koeppel a winning debut. Koeppel, previously coach of the youth team, was promoted with the firing of Holger Fach three days ago.
In Bremen, Hamburg went ahead after 22 minutes with a curious goal. Johan Micoud tried to head back to his defense but instead opened the path for Emile Mpenza, who rounded goalkeeper Andreas Reinke, far off his line. Mpenza then crossed for David Jarolim to head into the empty net.
Ivan Klasnic struck Hamburg's post in the 40th as Bremen pressed ahead in search of an equalizer. But it didn't come until the 75th, when tall defender Christian Schulz won a ball at the far post and hit it into net with the top of his boot.
Bremen dominated the second half and wasted two late chances.
Borussia Dortmund, trying to salvage a season sourced by financial problems and poor results, beat Hannover for its second straight win.
Ewerthon scored his sixth goal of the season to put Dortmund ahead in the 41st, picking up a defense-splitting pass from Jan Koller.
Samuel Eto'o took his goalscoring total to eight in the season as FC Barcelona drew 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on Saturday.
The Cameroon international, the league's leading scorer, pounced on a defensive error by Ander Murillo to score in the 11th minute.
Three minutes later, Fran Yeste hit a powerful left-foot shot to equalize for Athletic.
In a game that saw plenty of attacking action, both teams had chances to improve on their scores, Athletic through Yeste in the 67th minute and Barcelona when Xavier "Xavi" Hernandez, who came on at half-time for Brazilian midfielder Deco, hit the woodwork.
Barcelona leads the standings with 23 points, six more than second-placed Sevilla.
Andriy Shevchenko came off the bench in the second half and scored AC Milan's winner against Sampdoria for a 1-0 win in Serie A play Saturday that lifted the Milan powerhouse two points short of league leader Juventus.
Brazilian striker Adriano gave Inter Milan an early second-half lead and Lazio's Argentine defender Jose Antonio Talamonti headed in a late equalizer for a 1-1 draw at San Siro in the only other match of the day.
Pierre-Alain Frau scored the winner as defending champion Lyon beat Strasbourg 1-0 on Saturday to stay top of the French first division.
Lyon, seeking a record-equaling fourth straight title, missed numerous chances before striker Frau tapped home a Sylvain Wiltord cross. Lyon is undefeated after 12 rounds of matches.
Lille stayed in second as Stephane Dumont notched a ninth-minute goal in a 1-0 home win over lowly Saint-Etienne.
Jon Inge Hoiland scored to give Malmo their 15th Swedish first division title on Saturday and a place in the qualifying round of next season's Champions League.
The 1-0 win over Elfsborg was enough to snatch away the title from Halmstad, who had led Malmo on goal difference going into the final round of matches, after they were held to a 1-1 draw by IFK Gothenburg.
Malmo ended the season on 52 points, Halmstad on 50 and Gothenburg on 47.
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