FSV Mainz 05’s title aspirations suffered a serious setback on Saturday when they were beaten 1-0 at home by 10-man Hannover 96, as Borussia Dortmund opened a seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Mainz dropped to third in the table after suffering only their fourth defeat of the season, while Hannover are up to fifth after the win, despite captain Steven Cherundolo being dismissed in the second half.
The defender was shown a second yellow card, and the subsequent red, on 68 minutes, but his side held on for the win and Mainz suffered their third straight home defeat.
Photo: AFP
Hannover went ahead on 44 minutes thanks to a wondergoal from midfielder Sergio Pinto, the 30-year-old slamming his shot in from outside the penalty area to give Mainz goalkeeper Christian Wetklo no chance.
Bayer Leverkusen move up to second thanks to their 1-0 win at St Pauli, with Brazilian midfielder Renato Augusto scoring the winner.
After a frustrating afternoon in Hamburg, Leverkusen got the break they needed when Germany midfielder Simon Rolfes beat the defense and squared for Renato Augusto to net in the 81st minute.
“We could have been 3-0 up at halftime and we knew things would be hard for us,” Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes said. “St Pauli had rolled up their sleeves and caught us cold, but my side showed they have a bulletproof spirit and earned the win.”
Borussia Moenchengladbach got themselves off the bottom of the Bundesliga with an impressive 4-0 victory over Cologne.
After last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Bayern Munich, Moenchengladbach picked up only their second win of the season to put Cologne bottom of the table.
Schalke 04 claimed a point as they fought back from 2-0 down to draw at VfL Wolfsburg after strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite both scored for the hosts.
With the Wolves cruising at 2-0 with half-an-hour played, Schalke hit back with goals by Brazil striker Edu on 39 minutes and Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored his seventh goal of the season to equalize in the second half.
The result leaves Schalke in 16th and Wolfsburg in 12th.
VfB Stuttgart allowed a 3-0 lead to slip to a 3-3 draw at Kaiserslautern.
Ivory Coast defender Arthur Boka opened the scoring after just 19 minutes, before Germany internationals Cacau and Christian Gentner, with a penalty, put Stuttgart 3-0 up after 50 minutes, but the hosts hit back.
Bulgaria international Ilijan Micanski netted on 58 minutes, before Croatian midfielder Ivo Ilicevic smashed home his shot from the edge of the penalty area on 74 minutes to set up a tense finish.
Defender Mathias Abel scored the equalizer with a header on 78 minutes to complete the comeback and share the points.
The draw lifts Stuttgart to 14th and puts Kaiserslautern 15th, while Werder Bremen remain in midtable after their goalless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
On Friday, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund underlined their credentials at the top of the table with a 2-0 home win over Hamburg SV.
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