( dpa )- Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart lurched further into crisis Saturday after crashing 3-1 at home against Hertha Berlin.
Marko Pantelic struck twice and Raffael added the other as Hertha comfortably prevailed. Germany forward Mario Gomez got the temporary equalizer for Stuttgart, whose agony was completed when Matthieu Delpierre was sent off late on.
Stuttgart, who lost 4-1 at Schalke last week, are stranded on 28 points in mid-table, 11 points behind frontrunners Bayern Munich, who host second-placed Werder Bremen (36) in a top of the table clash on Sunday.
Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen and number four SV Hamburg played to a 1-1 draw, Hanover 96 and SC Karlsruhe drew 2-2, VfL Wolfsburg defeated bottom club MSV Duisburg 2-1, Nuremberg and Hansa Rostock drew 1-1, and Energie Cottbus rallied from 3-1 down to 3-3 at VfL Bochum.