German champions Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg have narrowed the gap to just one point with Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin after the two celebrated victory on Saturday while Berlin were snubbed at Stuttgart.
A single goal from Jose Ernesto Sosa secured Bayern a 1-0 victory against relegation-threatened Karlsruher at home on Saturday, giving them their fourth successive win in all competitions.
The result puts the defending champions on 48 points, just one behind leaders Hertha Berlin, while Karlsruher were still at the bottom of the Bundesliga table with 17 points.
Wolfsburg made it seven wins in a row in the league with a 3-0 victory at Arminia Bielefeld, to move to within a point of league leaders Hertha Berlin.
Goals from Christian Gentner, Grafite - his 18th of the season - and Ashkan Dejagah sealed the win for Felix Magath's men against a Bielefeld side who had lost just one of their previous nine matches at home.
For Arminia, the defeat leaves them in 15th, just one place and two ahead of third-from-bottom Moenchengladbach.
Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin's dreams of a first German title in 78 years were dealt a blow by Stuttgart as they were snubbed 0-2 on Saturday.
Lucien Favre's team lost 2-0, but stay top of the standings with 49 points.
Cacau with a volley and Sami Khedira with a header scored early on in the second half for Markus Babbel's team.
Hertha lost captain Arne Friedrich to injury with 25 minutes played, and it told as the hosts created several good scoring-opportunities.
Berlin's top striker Andrey Voronin, who had scored eight goals in his last six games, had an early chance when he shot just wide after eight minutes.
"Autumn Champions" 1899 Hoffenheim have suffered another set-back in the title race as they were held 2-2 at home by Hannover 96, the league's weakest away team.
Hannover brought a losing run of seven away games to an end, securing an important point in the relegation battle.
Hannover had turned the tables through Hanno Balitsch in the 22nd minute and Mario Eggimann in the 74th minute after Selim Teber had given Hoffenheim a 20th-minute lead from the penalty spot.
Substitute striker Wellington at least secured a draw for the hosts six minutes from time.
Also on Saturday, a penalty from Alexander Frei earned Borussia Dortmund their first victory of 2009.
The Swiss international slotted home from the spot in the 64th minute for his ninth goal of the season to give Dortmund a deserved 1-0 win over Werder Bremen.
Two goals from Milivoje Novakovic earned Koeln a somewhat fortunate 2-0 victory at Energie Cottbus, a result which puts Christoph Daum's side ten points clear of the relegation zone.
Leverkusen's winless home run has been extended to six matches with a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
The last home win for Bruno Labbadia's team dates back to November 15th, 2008 when they edged Schalke 04 2-1.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)
