Bremen's Schaaf rues missed chance to go top

Arminia Bielefeld's Christian Eigler (R) duels for the ball against Werder Bremen's Patrick Owomoyela during their Bundesliga football match in Bielefeld. Bielefeld won 3-2.

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf rued his side's missed golden opportunity to go top of the Bundesliga on Sunday as they crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld.

With three games left to go and league-leaders Schalke 04 losing 2-1 to VfL Bochum on Friday night, third-placed Bremen passed up the chance to leap-frog their rivals and re-take the top spot they last held in January.

Although Schalke boss Mirko Slomka had gloomily predicted after Friday's defeat that his side would lose their place at the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday, Bremen proved him wrong.

The guests twice came from behind, but the exertions of their 3-0 UEFA Cup first-leg semi-final defeat at Espanyol on Thursday night had clearly taken its toll.

"Thursday night's game had clearly taken it's toll, but that's not an excuse," said Schaaf.

"We lost the ball too easily and we didn't do enough to win it back.

"It would have been nice if we had taken our chance to go top, but it means the title race will probably go down to the wire."

Bielefeld went 1-0 up when defender Heiko Westermann scored after 30 minutes until German striker Miroslav Klose - who has been linked with a move away to rivals Bayern Munich or even Juventus in Italy - equalised in the 58th minute.

Danish midfielder Jonas Kamper fired his side into the lead just a minute later, only to see Bremen's Hugo Almeida draw Bremen level on 74 minutes.

But Bielefeld striker Christian Eigler struck with just over ten minutes left to seal their second consecutive win which take them up three places to 13th.

Their coach Ernst Middendorp, who only returned to Bielefeld last month to try and steer them away from relegation, was delighted with another three points.

"It is incredible," he said.

"We have seen the light at the end of the tunnel to our safety. This was a small step. We need even more points, but I am quite sure we can get them."

But with Bremen and Schalke both losing, VfB Stuttgart have come back into the title race after their 1-0 win over bottom-side Borussia Monchengladbach - who are now sure to be relegated - on Saturday pushed them into second place.

Midfielder Roberto Hilbert's 53rd minute goal was enough to give Stuttgart the three points.

Their win means Bayern Munich are now virtually sure to miss out on a Champions League place next season after they lost 2-1 at home to Hamburg.

The defeat leaves Bayern in fourth, seven points behind third-placed Bremen with three games left.

Mid-table Energie Cottbus had Karim Haggui to thank for their 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen after his 84th minute winner on Sunday.

Cottbus' Romanian striker Sergiu Radu grabbed an early goal after eight minutes, before Bayer striker Stefan Kiessling equalised with a header just before half-time.

Hertha Berlin trounced hosts Alemannia Aachen 4-0 to go seventh in the league while VfL Wolfsburg drew 1-1 at Nuremberg.

Midtable Hanover enjoyed a comfortable 2-1 win at second-from-bottom Mainz 05.

And Thomas Doll's Borussia Dortmund moved away from the relegation dog-fight as Swiss international Alexander Frei struck either side of half-time to seal a 2-0 win over Eintracht which leaves them 12th, five points from the drop zone.