Hamburg - Midfielder Franck Ribery was sent off as Bayern Munich's hopes of defending their Bundesliga title were dealt a massive blow by a 1-0 home defeat to Schalke
04 on Saturday. The dismissal, following a second booking, came shortly after Schalke's Jermaine Jones was sent off for a second yellow card.

It dashed Bayern's hopes of taking advantage of an extra man over the last 20 minutes as they chased the game after going behind to a Halil Altintop header from a corner in the 21st minute.

Coach Juergen Klinsmann had hoped four home matches in the season's remaining six would tip the balance for Bayern, but the defeat now leaves his side trailing badly in third.

"It is a bitter defeat because we were determined to do well," Klinsmann said.

"We began well, dictated the play and created a lot of chances but then they scored and defended the goal with all their might. It's very annoying and frustrating, of course."

Leaders VfL Wolfsburg could pull six points clear of Bayern with a win at second-bottom Energie Cottbus on Sunday. Wolfsburg are on 57 points, two ahead of Hertha Berlin who won 1-0 at Hoffenheim Friday.

VfB Stuttgart meanwhile chalked up a fifth consecutive win in a 2-0 defeat of Eintracht Frankurt to move to fourth, level on 54 points with Bayern. SV Hamburg are also on 54 points, dropping to fifth after a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

Ribery was dismissed in the 76th minute after a second yellow card for a late tackle on Jefferson Farfan as Bayern's title challenge began to unravel in Munich's Allianz Arena.

It appeared to be an act of frustration by the France midfielder who had gone into the book for the first time in the 63rd minute following a tussle with Rafinha.

The sending off cancelled out the dismissal of Schalke's Jones who was sent off in the 70th minute after he was booked a second time, both for fouls on Mark van Bommel.

Bayern still had late chances to rescue a point with Orlando Engelaar almost turning the ball into his own net and substitute Hamit Altintop coming close to cancelling out his brother's goal with a stoppage-time shot just tipped over the bar by keeper Manuel Neuer.

But there were chants of "Klinsmann out" towards the end of a defeat which will again lead to speculation over the coach's future at the club.

It was meanwhile the fourth successive win for Schalke without conceding a goal, to keep the Gelsenkirchen side sixth and in contention for qualification for the UEFA Europa Cup next season.

"There are still five games to go and who knows what will happen in Cottbus. But if Wolfsburg win it looks bad for us in the league without a doubt," Klinsmann said.

He added that he could understand the fans' frustration.

"I have to accept it. It is an extreme season with many injuries and some strange refereeing decisions. But we are not giving up. We have five games left and there are 15 points to be won." (dpa)

Stuttgart's Mario Gomez was again on target for his 19th goal of the season in their 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. The Germany striker netted from close range shortly after the break after Brazilian Cacau had headed the home side ahead in the 33rd minute.

Stanislav Sestak scored both goals as Bochum went ahead at Werder Bremen, but the home side came back to win with second-half goals from Hugo Almeida, and the Brazilians Naldo and Diego.

Hanover stayed out of immediate relegation danger thanks to a first-half brace from Leon Andreasen in a 2-1 defeat of Cologne, while basement club Karlsruhe kept their hopes of staying up alive with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.

The winning goal in the 72nd minute was a strange affair - a half sliding tackle, half shot by Sebastian Langkamp from just inside the Leverkusen half which sailed over a surprised Rene Adler in goal.

In Sunday's other game, Borussia Moenchengladbach face Arminia Bielefeld in a relegation tussle.