Germany: Late goals power Stuttgart past Schalke

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Jan Simak and Mario Gomez scored late goals Sunday to give Stuttgart a 2-0 win over Schalke in Markus Babbel's first Bundesliga game in charge.

Babbel replaced Armin Veh one week ago after the 2007 champions went five games without a win. Babbel, whose title is "team chief'' as he does not have a German coaching license, had his debut in the team's 1-1 draw at Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

Schalke, which missed a penalty, paid the price for failing to take some early chances.

Jermaine Jones hit the post and Jefferson Farfan pounced on the rebound, but his close-range shot was cleared off the line by Arthur Boka after 12 minutes.

Three minutes later, Boka tripped Kevin Kuranyi in the penalty area, but Jens Lehmann dived to his left to stop Farfan's penalty kick.

Gomez could not beat Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from close range in the first half and then had another effort in the second half foiled by the 'keeper.

But in the 79th, Simak broke the deadlock, lobbing the ball over the advancing Neuer. Four minutes later, Gomez secured the win after Pavel Padro won a loose ball and fed the striker.

Also Sunday, Hamburger SV drew 1-1 at VfL Bochum, and Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg played out a 0-0 draw.

Stanislav Sestak put Bochum ahead after a corner, turning to hit a volley inside the far post in the 39th minute. Hamburg equalized in the 70th, after Bochum goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes spilled a sharp shot from Mladen Petric and Ivica Olic knocked the loose ball home.

Sestak wasted a chance to win the game when he rounded Hamburg 'keeper Frank Rost but then hit the woodwork of an open goal.

In Dortmund, Wolfsburg's Cristian Zaccardo had the best chance of the evening but his header was stopped by Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

On Saturday, Vedad Ibisevic scored his 17th goal of the season to help leader Hoffenheim beat Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 for its eighth win in nine games.

Hoffenheim moved to 34 points from 15 games, keeping the Bundesliga newcomer three points ahead of defending champion Bayern Munich, which beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 with goals by Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose.

Bayern hosts Hoffenheim on Friday.

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