Neuer the hero as resurgent Schalke stun Mainz

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was the hero for Champions League last 16 qualifiers Schalke on Sunday as his second-half penalty save sealed his side’s 1-0 win at Mainz.

After striker Jefferson Farfan put Schalke ahead with a goal after 30 minutes, there was drama when Neuer had a penalty awarded against him after he brought down Hungary striker Adam Szalai with just over 20 minutes left.

But he saved the day for the Royal Blues when he stopped the spot-kick from Mainz’s Germany squad member Andre Schuerrle to give Schalke their fourth win from their last six league games.

Victory saw Schalke move up to 10th in the German league, while Mainz stay fourth in the table as leaders Dortmund finish the weekend with an 11-point lead.

Earlier Freiburg knocked defending champions Bayern Munich down to sixth following their 3-0 win over bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach as striker Papiss Cisse scored twice.

Senegal striker Cisse netted either side of half-time and joined Frankfurt’s Greek star Theofanis Gekas as the league’s joint scorer with 13 from 16 games.

Meanwhile strugglers Stuttgart sacked Jens Keller and immediately named Bruno Labbadia as their third coach of the season.

Keller, 40, had taken over from former Tottenham Hotspur manager Christian Gross in October, but Stuttgart only managed to garner nine points from nine league games under his leadership.

Stuttgart’s 2-1 defeat to Hanover on Friday left the 2007 German champions one off the bottom in the league and was the final nail in Keller’s coffin.

He becomes the third coach to lose his job in the Bundesliga this season after Gross and Zvonimir Soldo (Cologne).

Labbadia, a 44-year-old former German international, now takes over having been out of work since his sacking from Hamburg in April.

“I am aware of how hard the task will be, but I’m confident we’ll achieve our goal,” he said at a press conference.

On Saturday, Dortmund picked up their seventh-straight win with a 2-0 victory over Bremen.

A superbly struck free-kick after nine minutes by Dortmund’s Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin put the leaders ahead before Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted in the 70th minute as Dortmund took all three points.

It was their 14th win from 16 games with the only defeat coming on the first day of the season back in August.

The result leaves Dortmund 11 points clear of second-placed Leverkusen who beat Hamburg 4-2.

Bayern remain 17 points behind the leaders, but they were buoyed by the news Bastian Schweinsteiger will stay until 2016 following their 3-0 win over 10-man St Pauli.

The 26-year-old has signed a four-year extension and looks set to end his career in Munich, dealing a blow to a host of reported suitors including Real Madrid.

Cologne enjoyed a rare win as teenage midfielder Christian Clemens scored his first Bundesliga goal when he netted in the 56th minute to seal a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hoffenheim were held to a 1-1 draw by Nuremberg while Wolfsburg had a goalless draw at Kaiserslautern.