BERLIN. Germany -- Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi fired Schalke up to joint second in the Bundesliga, while Bayern Munich have a golden chance to put one hand on the league title if they beat Stuttgart on Sunday.



Kuranyi's early goal was enough to give Schalke a vital victory over Champions League rivals Hamburg.



Kuranyi's 15th league goal of the season -- after just two minutes -- gave Schalke the three points with a 1-0 win in Hamburg to go level on 54 points with Werder Bremen, who shared a thrilling 3-3 draw at Karlsruhe.



After Schalke sacked coach Mirko Slomka a fortnight ago, caretaker coach Mike Bueskens was delighted with the victory over their rivals.



"I am very, very pleased with the win," he said. "We beat a direct competitor for a Champions League place and the early goal worked very well for us. Hamburg played well, but they didn't take their chances."



Schalke and Bremen, who remain second on goal difference, are now nine points behind Bayern with four games left.



A Bayern win will send them 12-points clear with a vastly superior goal difference and only a mathematical miracle would prevent them being crowned German champions for the 21st time.



But Bayern are without internationals Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm against Stuttgart, while Oliver Kahn is a huge injury doubt for the clash against Stuttgart who welcome back Mario Gomez back from injury.



The draw in Karlsruhe was a blow to Bremen, who were shocked by an early goal when home striker Sebastian Freis drilled home his 15th minute shot.



Werder hit back when midfielder Diego equalised eight minutes later and former Schalke midfielder Mesut Oezil scored his first goal of the season to put Bremen 2-1 ahead on 29 minutes.



But Freis added his second on 59 minutes before Kapllani put Karlsruhe ahead only for Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo to level the scores in the 86th minute.



"It was a very entertaining game and the fans got their money's worth," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf. "But we can't be happy with the result, because it was possible for us to keep the pressure on."



Further down the table, striker Mike Hanke gave Hanover an early goal at home to Hertha Berlin before Czech striker Jiri Stajner enjoyed the simplest of tap-ins to make it 2-0 after 26 minutes.



But Berlin clawed a goal back with a second-half penalty to make it 2-1 before Lukasz Piszczek equalised in the 66th minute to make it 2-2.



At the bottom of the table, Slovakian striker Marek Mintal netted a first-half goal for Nuremberg and Russian striker Ivan Saenko made it 2-0 against Arminia Bielefeld after 39 minutes with a superb strike.



But Bielefeld hit back as Artur Wichniarek and Markus Bollmann scored second-half goals to make it 2-2.



Energie Cottbus pulled themselves further from the relegation battle with a 2-1 win over Hansa Rostock, while Duisburg have gone bottom of the table with a 1-1 draw against Bochum.



On Friday night, mid-table sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 while on Sunday Bayer Leverkusen can break into the top five if they beat Wolfsburg at home. E-mail to a friend
What was the score at Bremen? Which team won against Hamburg? Who scored against Hamburg? Which position is Schalke now level in? Who scored an early goal for Schalke? Who does Bayern have to beat in Sunday? Who are Schalke now in second position with? What position are Schalke in? When is the next game? Who won the game? When will Bayern Munich play Stuttgart to all but clinch the title?
3-3 Schalke Kevin Kuranyi joint second Kevin Kuranyi Stuttgart Bayern Munich joint second Sunday Schalke Sunday.
question: What was the score at Bremen?, answer: 3-3 | question: Which team won against Hamburg?, answer: Schalke | question: Who scored against Hamburg?, answer: Kevin Kuranyi | question: Which position is Schalke now level in?, answer: joint second | question: Who scored an early goal for Schalke?, answer: Kevin Kuranyi | question: Who does Bayern have to beat in Sunday?, answer: Stuttgart | question: Who are Schalke now in second position with?, answer: Bayern Munich | question: What position are Schalke in?, answer: joint second | question: When is the next game?, answer: Sunday | question: Who won the game?, answer: Schalke | question: When will Bayern Munich play Stuttgart to all but clinch the title?, answer: Sunday.