Sat May 17 12:48:05 2008

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Arminia ruins Stuttgart's European hopes

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Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Christian Eigler scored in the 87th minute to help Arminia Bielefeld secure its safety with a 2-2 draw against Stuttgart, ending the home side's hopes of a UEFA Cup spot.

Robert Tesche put Arminia ahead 10 minutes into the game but Mario Gomez pulled Stuttgart level in the 75th minute from the penalty spot. The home side then went in front with five minutes to play through Manuel Fischer, but Eigler quickly responded with a goal of his own to earn Arminia a share of the points.

The result leaves Stuttgart in sixth place just one year after winning the Bundesliga title, while Arminia ends the campaign in 15th, three points clear of the drop zone.

Nurnberg entered the day with a chance to avoid relegation if they could beat Schalke, but Marcelo Jose Bordon scored two times in a 2-0 Schalke win, leaving Nurnberg in the bottom three.

Rostock and Duisburg join Nurnberg in the bottom three, even though Rostock ended its campaign with a 2-1 win over Bochum, while Duisburg fell 4-2 to Eintracht as Martin Fenin tallied two times.

Werder Bremen held on to second place as Markus Rosenberg scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, which was eliminated from UEFA Cup contention with the loss.

Hamburg and Wolfsburg claimed the final UEFA Cup berths with wins over Karlsruher and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Hamburg destroyed Karlsruher 7-0 as Jose Paolo Guerrero scored a hat trick and Ivica Olic netted two goals, while Wolfsburg overcame two goals from Dortmund's Alexander Frei to win 4-2.

Hannover assured itself of a top-half finish by beating Energie 4-0, and newly-crowned champions Bayern Munich closed out the season in style by downing Hertha Berlin 4-1.

Bayern's Luca Toni scored three times to take his tally to a league-leading 24, while manager Ottmar Hitzfeld and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn both took part in their final match for Bayern.

Kahn had his clean sheet spoiled in the 84th minute by Hertha's Valeri Domovchiyski, and he was subbed off in the final minute to a standing ovation.