Schalke slip-up gives chasing clubs hope

Werder Bremen can close the gap at the top of the Bundesliga to a point tomorrow after Schalke again dropped points, held to a 1-1 draw by Hannover.

Schalke took the lead after just two minutes against their mid-table hosts as Halil Altintop found the net.

But the scores were just as quickly level again when former Germany international Michael Tarnat hit an equaliser for Hannover, and that was how the game finished.

Schalke stay top with 50 points, but the draw makes tomorrow’s crunch match between Bayern Munich and Werder all the more interesting.

Werder are second on 46 points, while Bayern will be aiming to leapfrog Stuttgart and move level with their opponents.

Bayern will be encouraged by a disappointing result for Stuttgart, who were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Wolfsburg.

There was also plenty of action at the other end of the table as basement dwellers Borussia Monchengladbach picked up three vital points by beating Hertha Berlin 3-1.

Bochum saw off Borussia Dortmund 2-0, Arminia Bielefeld lost 1-0 at Mainz and Alemannia Aachen won 2-0 at Energie Cottbus.