Bayern scored both their goals inside two first-half minutes when Franck Ribery's 25th-minute strike was quickly followed by a goal from Thomas Muller.

The Bavarians endured a nervy game thereafter with Kevin Kuranyi pulling a goal back on the half-hour before Hamit Altintop earned a second booking just before the break.

Despite their numerical disadvantage Bayern defended stoutly in the second period to claim a crucial victory that moves them a point above Schalke - whose afternoon was soured further in the closing stages when Marcelo Bordon was sent off for a bad foul.

Maik Franz struck a last-gasp winner as Eintracht Frankfurt inflicted defeat on title hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen.

Selim Teber converted a penalty for Frankfurt in the 28th minute before Stefan Kiessling equalised in the 33rd.

Kiessling gave Leverkusen the lead in the 46th minute but saw team-mate Daniel Schwaab red-carded three minutes later.

Caio equalised after 62 minutes before Franz struck the winner for Frankfurt in the 89th minute.

Third-placed Leverkusen trail Bayern by six points and are just one clear of Borussia Dortmund, who beat Werder Bremen 2-1 after an impressive first half.

Kevin Grosskreutz opened the scoring after nine minutes and Neven Subotic made it 2-0 midway through the first period. Aaron Hunt pulled a goal back for Bremen after 65 minutes but they were unable to find an equaliser.

At the other end of the table, Freiburg failed to make their domination count at the Badenova-Stadion as relegation rivals Bochum escaped with a point.

Freiburg began the game three points adrift of their opponents in the race to avoid the final relegation place, and defender Christoph Dabrowski's goal against the run of play ensured they would remain there.

Papis Cisse had given the hosts a deserved lead but they were unable to seal all three points as Heiko Butscher missed a glorious chance in the closing stages.

Nurnberg earned a crucial three points in their fight against relegation with a dominant win over 10-man Mainz this afternoon.

Mainz were a man down after just four minutes when Andreas Ivanschitz saw red and the hosts soon made their numerical advantage count.

Mike Frantz gave Nurnberg the lead after 14 minutes and Eric Choupo-Moting doubled their advantage five minutes before the break, while the hosts also hit the woodwork four times.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic's goal with seven minutes remaining continued Stuttgart's climb up the Bundesliga standings with a come-from-behind home victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.

Marco Reus gave Gladbach the lead after 33 minutes but Ciprian Marica equalised in the 66th minute and then Kuzmanovic's late heroics sealed matters.

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Raffael scored twice in the first half as Hertha Berlin remained alive in their fight against relegation with a critical 3-0 away victory at nine-man Cologne.

The Brazilian struck in the 25th and 45th minutes and Cicero scored in the 75th with a free-kick after Cologne's Youssef Mohamed was sent off for a professional foul on Adrian Ramos. Zoran Tosic was then shown a second yellow card with three minutes to play.