A Hertha BSC supporter sits in the stands after the German first division Bundesliga football match Hertha BSC vs FC Schalke 04 in Berlin on April 24, 2010.BERTHOLD STADLER/AFP / Getty Images
Schalke kept alive its hopes of a Bundesliga title with a 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin on Saturday to pull even with leader Bayern Munich, which stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Schalke finally broke the deadlock through Heiko Westermann's goal in the 87th minute to join Bayern with 64 points from 32 rounds, though Munich has the better goal difference.
"We definitely have something to celebrate and give ourselves a pat on the shoulders," Schalke coach Felix Magath said.
Bayern had seen Marco Reus give Gladbach the lead after 60 minutes, but equalized in the 73rd through veteran Miroslav Klose, who had come on as a substitute seven minutes earlier.
"There is nothing wrong. We are still leading the league," Bayern playmaker Arjen Robben said. "And if we win two more games we will be champion."
Bayern, who holds a 1-0 advantage going into the second leg of its Champions League semifinal against Lyon on Tuesday, play at home against Bochum and then at last-place Hertha Berlin in the last two rounds.
"A victory here would have been nice, but we still have everything in our own hands," Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said. "We just have to win our two games."
Schalke hosts Werder Bremen and then travels to Mainz in its remaining games, and Magath said he will keep hoping for another slip-up by Bayern.
"I am certain that we can win against Bremen, and we will continue to apply pressure against Bayern, even thought we were not as strong as we would have liked today," Magath said.
The fight for third place and qualification for the Champions League also remained wide open as Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund both grabbed victories.
Stefan Kiessling scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season in leading Leverkusen to a 3-0 win at home over Hannover. Dortmund held on for a 3-2 victory at Nuremberg thanks to a hat trick by Lucas Barrios, but remains one point behind third-place Leverkusen.
Werder Bremen has 54 points, and could reclaim third place when it hosted Cologne later Saturday.
In the day's other match, American midfielder Ricardo Clark made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt after missing four months with a calf injury, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3-3 draw at Mainz.
Hertha Berlin moved closer to relegation with the loss against Schalke. It is stuck in last place with 23 points, five points away from safety and with difficult matches against Leverkusen and Bayern coming up.
Hannover is next-to-last with 27 points, while Freiburg, Bochum and Nuremberg all have 28 points.