Tight at the Top
May 6, 2007
Bremen entered their match against Hertha Berlin on Sunday knowing they would need a victory to maintain any serious chance at winning the German title and won in convincing 4-1 style.
Man-of-the-match honors went to Bremen's 25-year-old Swede Markus Rosenberg, who scored three goals, with the fourth goal in Berlin coming from playmaker Diego.
"We are very satisfied," Bremen captain and German international Torsten Frings said after the match. "We had control of the game from the first minute."
An impressive solitary action from Gilberto kept Berlin from suffering a shut-out despite . In Sunday's second match Bielefeld beat Leverkusen 2-1.
Kevin Kuranyi was the hero as Schalke 04 beat Nuremberg 1-0 on Saturday, bringing them closer to their first German soccer title in 49 years with two games left to play.
German international Kuranyi headed the winner in the 64th minute as the league's two stingiest defenses met in Gelsenkirchen. Stuttgart beat lowly Mainz 2-0 for their sixth win in a row.
Schalke have 65 points while Stuttgart are on 64 and Bremen sit in third with 63. Schalke face rivals Dortumnd next week while Bremen meet Frankfurt and Stuttgart play Bochum.
"Our team has an aim and is in great shape, but Bochum have a very strong team," warned Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt.
Schalke's Andreas Müller said he thinks the winner of the Bundesliga title won't be clear until the final week.
"It will remain tight until the end," he said. "But I have a great feeling, we will try our best."
Nuremberg in UEFA Cup
Schalke dominated German Cup finalists Nuremberg from the start but chances were sparse in front of a 61,000-strong sellout crowd. Kuranyi's low shot was saved by Raphael Schäfer and Marcelo Bordon headed wide.
The hosts stepped up the pace after the break and it took a miracle save from Schaefer to punch away Dario Rodriguez' header in the 58th.
Kuranyi finally broke the deadlock six minutes later with a fierce header off Gerald Asamoah's cross. Nuremberg's Tomas Galasek was sent off late in the game.
While Schalke drew closer to the title, Nuremberg are now assured of a place in the UEFA Cup regardless of the outcome of the May 26 cup final against Stuttgart because Stuttgart clinched a Champions League berth on Saturday.
Double for Stuttgart?
The title double remains possible as well for Stuttgart, with Fernando Meira opening the scoring with a low shot in the 26th and Roberto Hilbert grabbing the second in the 64th.
Mainz' seventh straight defeat all but sealed their drop into the second division along with Borussia Mönchengladbach, whose hopes ended a week ago.
Best of the rest
Mönchengladbach drew 1-1 with dethroned champions Bayern Munich on Saturday. Alexander Kluge cancelled out Munich's lead from Roy Makaay, the latest setback in Munich's poor season.
The third team to make the drop are most likely Alemannia Aachen, who are three points away from safety after their second 4-0 defeat in a row, at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bochum triumphed 3-0 at SV Hamburg with the 20th goal of Bundesliga top scorer Theofanis Gekas. Dortmund won 2-0 at VfL Wolfsburg.