May 20, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 03, 1428

BERLIN, May 19: VfB Stuttgart won the Bundesliga title on the final day of the season on Saturday when a 2-1 win over Energie Cottbus kept them two points ahead of runners-up Schalke 04.

Stuttgart were trailing 1-0 to Cottbus after Sergiu Radu's deflected shot beat Timo Hildebrand in the 19th minute but goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger (27) and Sami Khedira (43) took them to their first Bundesliga title in 15 years.

Stuttgart won their final eight matches to erase a seven-point deficit, moving up from third to overtake Werder Bremen and Schalke in a stunning finish. It was their fifth championship and third since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963.

Stuttgart now stand on the brink of a domestic double, with the Cup final to come against Nuremberg on May 26 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Schalke, who beat Arminia Bielefeld 2-1, finished second for the third time in seven years after again squandering the lead late in the season. They were also overtaken by Bayern Munich after stumbling in both 2001 and 2005.

Schalke briefly led the table for about nine minutes on Saturday when they stormed to an early 2-0 lead over Bielefeld while Stuttgart fell behind to Cottbus in their match some 300 kms away in southern Germany.

Schalke knew they could win the championship if they beat Bielefeld by four goals and Stuttgart only drew with Cottbus.

Lincoln put Schalke ahead 1-0 in the 12th minute and Halil Altintop doubled the lead four minutes later – sending the full house in Gelsenkirchen into a frenzy.

But Schalke were unable to add to their lead and gave up a stoppage-time goal to Radim Kucera.—Reuters