GERMAN BUNDESLIGA SOCCER REPORT

*Bayern and Schalke remain in deadlock at the top*
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MUNICH, Germany (Ticker) - The top of the German Bundesliga had
a familiar feel to it Saturday as Bayern Munich and Schalke
continued to give nothing away in the race for the title.

Bayern remained on top thanks to a 3-0 result at former
table-toppers Wolfsburg in what was only their sixth away win of
the season.

However, it was a win to be proud of at the Volkswagen Arena
with Bastian Schweinsteiger's 29th-minute strike giving Felix
Magath's side the lead.

Kevin Hofland's own-goal shortly before halftime gave the
visitors an even greater cushion before Torsten Frings wrapped
up the win in the 55th minute to keep Bayern at the top by
virtue of a better goal difference.

Bayern continues to feel the heat from Schalke after the
Gelsenkirchen club sealed a convincing, 4-1, victory over
struggling Nurnberg.

An early injury to Ebbe Sand saw Mike Hanke brought on as a
fourth-minute substitute for Schalke, and the switch paid
dividends as the striker put his side two goals ahead after 36
minutes.

Ailton got in on the act with a third for Schalke four minutes
later and, although Samuel Slovak reduced the deficit for the
visitors, a strike from Lincoln in the 74th minute before time
gave all three points to the hosts.

Meanwhile, Stuttgart consolidated third place in the table with
a 2-1 win at defending champion Werder Bremen.

With just one point separating the two sides at the start of the
day, Stuttgart put the pressure on its opponents with Silvio
Meissner's goal three minutes into the second half.

Werder struck back within minutes through Ivan Klasnic but a
second yellow card for Valerien Ismael in the 84th minute
signalled the end of Bremen's chances of victory.

Just two minutes later Christian Tiffert fired what proved to be
the winner for Stuttgart to give it a four-point advantage over
its rivals.

Hamburg's hopes of earning a UEFA Cup spot suffered a slight
setback after they were held to a 1-1 draw at last-place
Freiburg.

Dennis Kruppke gave the hosts a 19th-minute lead with Almani
Moreira securing a point for Hamburg, which moved up to a
sixth-place tie with Hertha Berlin occupy the final UEFA Cup
berth.

Freiburg, which finished the match with 10 men after Sergej
Barbarez's late dismissal, looks certain to be relegated with
the club 11 points adrift of safety.

Elsewhere, Hansa Rostock boosted its hopes of survival with a
2-0 win over Mainz.  Goals in either half from Thomas Rasmussen
and Michael Hartmann handed Hansa the spoils to move it above
Bochum in the bottom three.

Radomir Djalovic scored his first Bundesliga goal as Arminia
Bielefeld edged closer to the 40-point barrier with a 1-0 win
over UEFA Cup hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen.

The defeat sees Klaus Augenthaler's Leverkusen side slip down to
seventh in the standings, but one point off the top-five.

And Hannover took the honors in its mid-table battle at
Kaiserslautern with Jiri Kaufman's second-half double sealing
the points.
st 04-05-05 04:11 et