Bayern Munich's ongoing struggle to find last season's title-winning form continued as they went down 2-0 at struggling Schalke tonight. The surprise result eases the pressure on Schalke coach Felix Magath while simultaneously increasing the heat on Bayern Munch coach Louis van Gaal.

The defeat left Bayern seventh and still 14 points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund, who play Nurnberg tomorrow, while Schalke moved four points clear of the bottom three. The defeat left Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, who is burdened with increasing pressure, visibly upset. "I can't score the goals myself. It is simply unbelievable when you look at the whole game."

"Bayern played very well in the first-half," said Schalke coach Felix Magathh. "We also played well and although we made life hard for ourselves, we fought hard."

"If we always play this well, there will be no need for discussion. We have had a miserable start to the season and the team still needs to find itself, so games like these are few and far between," added Magath.

Second-placed Mainz missed the chance to narrow Dortmund's seven-point lead as they went down 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Marco Russ gave Frankfurt the lead after 35 minutes before Andre Schurrle levelled the game from the spot in the 42nd minute. However, Theofanis Gekas converted a penalty of his own to secure Frankfurt the three points.

If we always play this well, there will be no need for discussion. We have had a miserable start to the season and the team still needs to find itself.
Felix Magathh, Schalke coach

Hannover scored twice in three minutes to come from behind and beat ten-man Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1. The win moves Hannover into third place, two points behind Mainz.

Michael Bradley gave basement boys Gladbach the lead in the 19th minute, but the hosts had Raul Bobadilla sent off after 43 minutes. The ten-men failed to hold out as Mike Hanke levelled in the 73rd minute and Didier Ya Konan grabbed the winner.

Third-bottom Stuttgart missed the chance to claim a much-needed win as they were held 1-1 at home by 10-man Hoffenheim. Sejad Salihovic gave Hoffenheim the lead after 11 minutes, but Martin Harnik brought the hosts level in the 34th. Hoffenheim were reduced to 10 men four minutes before the break when Isaac Vorsah was shown the red card, but Stuttgart could not make that advantage count in the second half.

Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen drew 0-0 with both captains - Bremen's Torsten Frings in the 74th minute and Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko three minutes later - missing penalties.

"We are incredibly disappointed," said Wolfsburg coach Steve McClaren - the first Englishman to ever coach in the Bundesliga. "The first half was good, we controlled the game and played some good football. We are all in the same boat, but the season is not over yet. Now we must try to win our last two games before the winter break."

Finally, an early goal from Papiss Demba Cisse earned Freiburg a 1-0 win at home to Hamburg.