Schalke 04 rejoined Werder Bremen at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 derby defeat of Borussia Dortmund on Sunday leaving the race for the honorific title of winter champions going down to the wire.

Christian Pander put Schalke into a 14th minute lead, with Kevin Kuranyi coming up with his sixth goal of the season before the half hour with Danish international Peter Lovenkrands killing off the game as a contest in the second half.

Swiss striker Alexander Frei saved Borussia's blushes with an 82nd minute consolation.

With only next weekend's action to come before the winter recess Werder are out in front on goal difference after their 6-2 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

But if either of the top two slip up in their last game of the year the winter champion title could fall to third placed Vfb Stuttgart, two points behind, or champions Bayern Munich, lying waiting to pounce in fourth a further point adrift.

In Sunday's other game VfL Wolfsburg went down 2-1 to

Alemannia Aachen.

Werder's win 24 hours earlier was the perfect pick-me-up for Thomas Schaaf's side after the disappointment of getting dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona in midweek.

If the Bremen players were suffering any hangover from that Barca defeat it certainly didn't show with Brazilian defender Naldo putting them into the lead after three minutes play.

Marco Russ had Frankfurt back on level terms a minute later but that only served to invigorate Bremen.

Danish midifelder Daniel Jensen put the visitor's back in front in the 11th minute with Naldo increasing their advantage on the half hour.

And the 24-year-old defender whom Schaaf reckons is the most talented in Brazil popped up with a third just after the break with Jurica Vranjes and Diego completing the rout in the dying minutes.

Sotorios Kyrgiakos bagged a late consolation for the hosts.

"I think we are the best team in Germany at the moment," Werder manager Klaus Allofs said.

"We want to stay in front right to the end of the season," he added.

Stuttgart, the surprise package of the season, kept up their title push with a 1-0 win over VfL Bochum.

Bayern Munich, now Germany's

only representative in the Champions League, struggled to see off Energie Cottbus 2-1.

After last week's draw with Monchengladbach, Bayern took all three points with Bastian Schweinsteiger opening the scoring with a 42nd minute freekick.

His hastily taken setpiece caught out Energie's excellent Bosnian keeper Tomislav Piplica.

Steffan Baumgart levelled for Cottbus with Dutch defender Daniel van Buyten saving Bayern's blushes with the 54th minute decider.

"Once again we had difficulty up against a well organised and very physical opposition," Bayern coach Felix Magath said.

Hamburg were unable to follow up their Champions league win over CSKA Moscow in midweek, the second from bottom club playing out a goalless draw with Nuremberg.

That performance may hasten the departure of coach Thomas Doll.

TOP SIX

Team P W D L GF GA Pts

Bremen 16 10 3 3 45 21 33

Schalke 16 10 3 3 28 17 33

Stuttgart 16 9 4 3 28 19 31

Bayern 16 9 3 4 26 19 30

Hertha 16 6 6 4 27 24 24

Leverkusen 16 6 5 5 27 23 23