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March 23, 2010

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Schalke fluffs chance to go top in Germany

SCHALKE missed a chance to knock Bayern Munich off the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday when it had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Hamburger SV.

Bayern lost 1-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and Schalke could have moved a point clear at the top with a win.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored for Hamburg late in the first half but Schalke turned the game around with a goal from Kevin Kuranyi and a penalty converted by Ivan Rakitic during a five-minute spell in the second half.

Substitute Jonathan Pitroipa salvaged a point for Hamburg with an equalizer in the 77th minute, but Hamburg fell to sixth place and out of the two slots for the Europa League next season.

Another of Bayern's rivals for the championship failed to take advantage of Bayern's first loss after 19 Bundesliga games when Bayer Leverkusen went down 0-3 at Borussia Dortmund.

With seven games remaining, Bayern leads the standings with 56 points, while Schalke has 55. Leverkusen has 53.

Dortmund is fourth on 48 and Werder Bremen has 45 in fifth, moving past Hamburg with a 3-2 win over Bochum on Saturday.

In the late game on Sunday, Greek striker Fanis Gekas scored a hat-trick as bottom-place Hertha Berlin humiliated Wolfsburg 5-1 in the champion's stadium.

Adrian Ramos added the other two goals for Berlin, while Grafite scored for Wolfsburg, which essentially gave up after the visiting team had gone 3-0 up in the first 26 minutes.

Berlin revived its slim hopes of escaping relegation by reducing the gap on both Freiburg and Hannover to five points.

Schalke is seeking its first championship in 52 years and coach Felix Magath his second in a row after leading Wolfsburg to the title last season. Schalke plays Bayern twice before Easter, next week in the semifinals in the German Cup and then in the Bundesliga on April 3 in a match that could decide the title.

"Of course we are disappointed because we had a good chance of winning this game," Kuranyi said after notching his 15th goal of the season. "We didn't take all the opportunities we had.

"But we have to look ahead and keep collecting points."

Midfielder Alexander Baumjohann said it didn't matter now whether Schalke was first or second. "We can live with a point away from home," he said.



 

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