Steve Cherundolo and Neven Subotić each helped secure a point for their respective teams, while Gregg Berhalter, Josh Wolff and Heath Pearce had nothing to celebrate this weekend.

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HANNOVER EKE OUT 10-MAN DRAW
Despite a man advantage, Duisburg were not able to capitalize on an early red card for Mike Hanke as they stay at the bottom of the table after a 1-1 draw with Hannover 96.

It was a short workday for Germany international Hanke. With just five minutes gone, he let himself get carried away by slapping opponent Iulian Filipescu and was shown the gate.

Subsequently, the visitors pulled back and tried to avoid committing errors. Duisburg was not able to find a way past Hannover's defense.

Forty two minutes into the game, the Reds took the lead with their first scoring opportunity. It was initiated by Szabolcs Huszti, who found Jiří Štajner open at the edge of the six-yard box.

Duisburg head coach Rudi Bommer must have done a little more than simply raising his voice during intermission as the home side played decent ball after the break.

They created several chances and one of them finally found the back of the net with 13 minutes left. Michael Lamey hammered the ball past Robert Enke shortly after Mihai Tararache's shot deflected off Hannover defenseman Valérien Ismaël.

Hannover will face revived VfB Stuttgart next Sunday at AWD-Arena.

Scoring
H96 - Jiří Štajner 3 (Szabolcs Huszti) 42'
DUIS - Michael Lamey 1 77'

Line-ups
DUIS - Tom Starke; Tobias Willi (Michael Lamey 68'), Iulian Filipescu, Fernando Avalos, Pablo Caceres, Ivica Grlić, Mihai Tararache, Maicon, Blagoy Georgiev (Markus Daun 78'), Bojan Vručina (Sascha Mölders 46'), Claudiu Niculescu

H96 - Robert Enke; Steve Cherundolo, Valérien Ismaël, Vinicius, Christian Schulz, Altin Lala, Hanno Balitsch, Jiří Štajner, Sergio Pinto (Bastian Schulz 68'), Szabolcs Huszti (Vahid Hashemian 75'), Mike Hanke

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CHAMPS STEAMROLL HANSA
Heath Pearce, who was called up for an international friendly against Poland on Wednesday, came in as a substitute for Hansa Rostock on Saturday in a devastating 4-1 loss to reigning champions VfB Stuttgart.

It did not have to end the way it ultimately did. The team of head coach Frank Pagelsdorf started out nicely by denying Stuttgart any room to unfold while also taking the offensive.

Hansa Rostock ace Enrico Kern could not beat Sven Ulreich with his early effort from just outside the box. Fin Bartels did get past Stuttgart's keeper seven minutes later, but also missed the goal by a few inches.

Unlike in the first half, Stuttgart got things done after the break. After Hansa defender Gledson used his arm to deflect a Mario Gomez cross, Mexico ace Pavel Pardo struck the subsequent penalty with authority to beat Stefan Wächter.

Two minutes later, Cacau got the better of Wächter when he scored on a no nonsense strike.

Hansa did not withdraw and even struck back after Gomez headed a Yelen free kick into his own goal past Ulreich. 

Heath Pearce, who came on late in the game for disappointing left winger Christian Rahn, created some fine scoring opportunities for his teammates, including a headed lay-off for Kai Bülow, who missed out by rushing his shot.

But if you don't capitalize on your chances, someone else will, which is exactly what Stuttgart did. They sealed the deal with late goals by Mario Gomez and Yildiray Bastürk.

Die Kogge will have to get things going at home in yet another crucial game when they host Wolfsburg on Friday.

Scoring
STU - Pavel Pardo 2 (PK) 52'
STU - Cacau 7 54'
HR - Own Goal (Mario Gomez) 56'
STU - Mario Gomez 15 (Andreas Beck) 87'
STU - Yildiray Bastürk 2 (Mario Gomez) 92'

Line-ups
STU - Sven Ulreich; Ricardo Osorio (Andreas Beck 83'), Fernando Meira, Matthieu Delpierre, Ludovic Magnin (Arthur Boka 63'), Pavel Pardo, Sami Khedira, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Yildiray Bastürk, Cacau, Mario Gomez (Sergiu Radu 92')

FCH - Stefan Wächter; Dexter Langen, Gledson, Orestes, Marc Stein, Kai Bülow, Tobias Rathgeb (Victor Agali 83'), Fin Bartels, Christian Rahn (Heath Pearce 78'), Zafer Yelen (Amir Shapourzadeh 78'), Enrico Kern 

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VIOLETS LOSE DERBY AT MILLERNTOR
A late own goal proved costly for Osnabrück as they went down 2-1 to St. Pauli in Friday night's fiercely contested relegation battle.

Joe Enochs had a 30-minute stint for his Veilchen, who lost for the first time since December on enemy turf.

Carsten Rothenbach gave St. Pauli the advantage seven minutes into the game after a long cross courtesy of Charles Takyi.

After shunning St. Pauli the field most of the first half, Osnabrück went on the offensive in the second period, and five minutes after restart, they were rewarded. Paul Thomik played into the path of Marcel Schuon, who netted into the far corner for his third goal of the season.

In the closing stages of the match, it was Thomas Cichon's failed attempt to clear a cross by Florian Bruns that decided the game and put Osnabrück on the losing side.

They will host Kaiserslautern in another relegation battle a week from Monday.

Scoring
STP - Carsten Rothenbach 1 (Charles Takyi) 7'
OSN - Marcel Schuon 3 (Paul Thomik) 51'
STP - Own Goal (Thomas Cichon) 80'

Line-ups
STP - Patrick Borger; Carsten Rothenbach, Fabio Morena, Marcel Eger, Ralph Gunesch, Fabian Boll, Timo Schultz (Florian Bruns 66'), Marvin Braun, Charles Takyi (Morike Sako 67'), Filip Trojan (Abdou Sall 88'), Ahmet Kuru

OSN - Frederik Gößling; Marcel Schuon, Jan Schanda, Thomas Cichon, Andreas Schäfer (Henning Grieneisen 87'), Matthias Heidrich, Pierre de Wit (Joe Enochs 60'), Paul Thomik, Nico Frommer, Rouwen Hennings (Hendrik Großöhmichen 87'), Thomas Reichenberger

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OWN GOALS DOOM 1860
Former US international Gregg Berhalter scored a winner on the wrong side of the pitch in Sunday's 3-1 loss at Koblenz, who played without American defender Josh Grenier.

Unfortunately, that was not the only mishap by a Lions defender. Markus Thorandt proved to be a similar threat to 1860 keeper Phillip Tschauner when he headed a free kick into his own in the 16th minute.

Lions striker Berkant Göktan had put his team ahead after Daniel Bierofka hit the post just 14 minutes into the game, but Berhalter's snafu seven minutes later stood up as decider.

Koblenz sealed their ninth win of the campaign after Manuel Hartmann reclaimed the ball from Berhalter to put it away for the 3-1 home win.

US striker Josh Wolff also went the distance in a losing cause.

1860 will try to end their seven game drought without a win against visiting Carl Zeiss Jena next Sunday.

Scoring
1860 - Berkant Göktan 7 (Daniel Bierofka) 14'
KOB - Own Goal (Markus Thorandt) 16'
KOB - Own Goal (Gregg Berhalter) 24'
KOB - Manuel Hartmann 2 66'

Line-ups
KOB - Dennis Eilhoff; Matej Mavric, Andreas Richter, Frank Wiblishauser, Du-Ri Cha, Manuel Hartmann, Marko Lomic, Fatmir Vata (Sascha Traut 71'), Gabriel Fernandez (Martin Forkel 56'), Njazi Kuqi (Brenny Evers 85'), Ardian Djokai

1860 - Phillip Tschauner; Fabian Johnson, Markus Thorandt, Gregg Berhalter, Torben Hoffmann, Berkant Göktan, Sven Bender (José Holebas 69'), Daniel Bierofka, Lars Bender, Josh Wolff, Antonio Di Salvo (Mustafa Kucukovic 73')

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HOFFENHEIM LEVEL WITH MAINZ LATE
In a battle for the runner-up slot behind top of the class Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mainz and Hoffenheim could not make out a winner in their 1-1 clash on Sunday.

Right from the start, an up-tempo game evolved before a sold out crowd at Bruchweg stadium. Only four minutes into the game, Daniel Gunkel tested Hoffenheim keeper Ramazan Özcan with a superb free kick.

In return, Carlos Alberto nimbly beat US Under-20 international Neven Subotić, but was not able to get past Mainz goalie Dimo Wache.

In the second half, an own goal brought Mainz in front. Daniel Gunkel's free kick sailed into the box where Radek Spilacek headed the ball into his net.

Hoffenheim, however, were not stunned to silence. With seven minutes to play, Demba Ba scored a brilliant equalizer as he swiftly turned around defender Nikolce Noveski to put the ball into the far corner.

Mainz will try to stay in the top three when they are eastbound to face Erzgebirge Aue on Friday.

Scoring
MNZ - Own Goal (Radek Spilacek) 70'
HOFF - Demba Ba 7 (Sead Salihovic) 83'

Line-ups
MNZ - Dimo Wache; Tim Hoogland, Neven Subotić, Nikolce Noveski Marco Rose, Miroslav Karhan (Ranisav Jovanović 89'), Daniel Gunkel (Damir Vrančić 80'), Milorad Peković, Markus Feulner, Srdjan Baljak (Isaac Boakye 68'), Félix Borja

HOFF - Ramazan Özcan; Andreas Ibertsberger, Per Nilsson, Marvin Compper, Zsolt Löw, Radek Spilacek, Luis Gustavo, Sead Salihovic, Carlos Eduardo, Francisco Copado (Steffen Haas 92'), Demba Ba

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ON THE SIDELINE
Spectators at Wolfsburg's Volkswagen Arena could neither make out a winner nor Kamani Hill in a 1-1 tie against Hamburg.

Bryan Arguez was doomed to watch from the sidelines as Hertha Berlin lost 2-1 to Schalke 04.

Luis Robles did not see action as Kaiserslautern drew 1-1 against visiting Offenbach.