Germany round-up: Schalke shock Bayern

FC Bayern München's hopes of defending their 1. Bundesliga title were dealt a major blow on Saturday when they were thrashed 5-1 by FC Schalke 04.

Mpenza opener
Belgian international striker Emile Mpenza scored Schalke's first goal in the 34th minute and set up team-mate Ebbe Sand a minute later to give the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead, much to the delight of the najority of the 60,683 fans at the Arena Aufschalke in Gelsenkirken.

Tarnat sent off
Bayern's Michael Tarnat was sent off in the 41st minute. Mehmet Scholl scored for Bayern in the 49th minute to make it 2-1, but goals from Jörg Böhme, Nico van Hoogdalem and Niels Oude-Kamphuis sealed a great win for Schalke, who were denied the Bundesliga title by Bayern on the final day of last season.

Leverkusen extend lead
The result leaves reigning European champions Bayern in fifth place, eight points behind leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who moved comfortably ahead of second-placed BV Borussia Dortmund, who did not play on Saturday, by defeating FC Hansa Rostock 2-0.

St. Pauli triumph
FC St. Pauli recovered from going a goal down against VfL Wolfsburg to secure a 3-1 win at the Millerntor stadium. Goals from Thomas Meggle, Marcel Rath and Marcao gave St. Pauli their first win in nine games as their oponents failed to recover from Miroslav Karhan's dismissal.

Joy for Stuttgart
Elsewhere, VfB Stuttgart earned a 3-0 win against Hamburger SV while 1.FC Kaiserslautern maintained their title challenge with a 2-0 win away at BV Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to an own goal from Marcello José Pletsch and a late clincher from Jörgen Pettersson.

1860 rampant
In Saturday's other games, SC Freiburg eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 win against struggling 1.FC Nürnberg while TSV 1860 München secured an easy 3-0 victory against 1.FC Köln.