Werder Bremen blew a golden opportunity to go top of the Bundesliga on Sunday as they crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld.
With three games left to go and league-leaders Schalke 04 losing 2-1 to VfL Bochum on Friday night, third-placed Bremen passed up the chance to leap-frog their rivals and re-take the top spot they last held in January.
Although Bremen equalized twice, Bielefeld were worthy winners in an electric game with both sides creating plenty of chances.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Bielefeld went 1-0 up when defender Heiko Westermann scored after 30 minutes until German striker Miroslav Klose -- who has been linked with a move away to rivals Bayern Munich or even Juventus in Italy -- equalized in the 58th minute.
Danish midfielder Jonas Kamper fired his side into the lead just a minute later, only to see Bremen's Hugo Almeida draw Bremen level on 74 minutes.
But Bielefeld striker Christian Eigler struck with just more than 10 minutes left to seal the win and take his side up three places to 13th.
But with Bremen and Schalke both losing, Stuttgart have come back into the title race after their 1-0 win over bottom-side Borussia Monchengladbach -- who are now sure to be relegated -- on Saturday pushed them into second place.
Midfielder Roberto Hilbert's 53rd minute goal was enough to give Stuttgart the three points.
Stuttgart's win means Bayern Munich are now virtually sure to miss out on a Champions League place next season after they lost 2-1 at home to Hamburg.
The defeat leaves Bayern in fourth, seven points behind third-placed Bremen with three games left.
Mid-table Energie Cottbus had Karim Haggui to thank for their 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen after his 84th minute winner on Sunday.
Hertha Berlin, meanwhile, trounced Alemannia Aachen 4-0 to go seventh in the league.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but