Bremen Lose Pace

Kevin Kuranyi and Peter Lovenkrands were on target for Schalke while Roberto Hilbert, new Germany international Mario Gomez, Ludovic Magnin and Marco Streller scored for on-fire Stuttgart to dent thetitle ambitions of Bremen.

Schalke, who last week won 2-0 in Bremen, are now unbeaten in a dozen matches to top the table with 48 points. Bremen, leaders until last weekend, have 42 and Stuttgart are hot on their heels with 41.

Elsewhere, there was a glimmer of hope for bottom club SV Hamburg as they got a first win since late October and second of the season, 3-0 against 10-man Borussia Dortmund.

Schalke were odds-on favorites against Hertha who are among the league's best away teams. But the leaders failed to find the net until Kuranyi finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute with a diving header off a corner kick. Lovenkrands then clinched victory from short range with 15 minutes left.

"We believe in the title and lead by six points. But we are only looking at the next game," said Schalke coach Mirko Slomka. "We worked and fought very hard for this win and deserved it."

While Schalke left it late, Stuttgart's win over Bremen was sealed before the break.


Hilbert tapped in for a third-minute lead and Gomez made it 2-0 in the 15th off Cacao's feed. Bremen responded from playmaker Diego in the 21st after Miroslav Klose's attempt was blocked, but Stuttgart were two goals up again in the 33rd when Magnin found the net off the far right post with a curling tight-angle shot. Streller's strike with five minutes left was the icing on the cake for Stuttgart.

First home win in ages for Hamburg

Hamburg, meanwhile, ended a long drought with the win against Dortmund. It was their first home win in 10 months, the first in the league since Oct. 22 and the first home win against Dortmund in almost 10 years.

A penalty from Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, Colin Benjamin's header and a late strike from Mehdi Mahdavikia delighted the hosts and sealed Dortmund's third loss in a row. Dortmund also had Dede sent off for a ruthless tackle on David Jarolim.

Mohamed Zidan was a hat-trick hero as Mainz 05 left the drop zone for the first time in more than four months with a 4-1 triumph against Energie Cottbus.

Relegation zone clubs Borussia Moenchengladbach and Alemannia Aachen drew 0-0. Bayer Leverkusen drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt as Leverkusen goalkeeper Joerg Butt and Frankfurt's Christoph Spycher were sent off.

In Sunday's games, struggling champions Bayern Munich 1-0 won against Arminia Bielefeld and the VfL Bochum - Nuremberg match ended 0-2.