Soccer-Nervous Bayern edge past Stuttgart to stay on title course

* Bayern go eight points clear at the top * Bad-tempered Vidal substituted after 27 minutes (Updates with Wolfsburg draw) BERLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich laboured to a 3-1 win at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday to increase their lead at the top to eight points with five games left and edge closer to a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title. Treble-chasing Bayern, who visit Benfica in their Champions League quarter-final return next week with a 1-0 advantage, have 75 points. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund travel to Schalke 04 on Sunday. Franck Ribery created Bayern's opener against the run of play with Stuttgart's Georg Niedermeier sliding in to clear the Frenchman's cutback only to send it into his own goal in the 31st minute. Stuttgart appeared to be playing with more confidence than Bayern, who have also reached the German Cup semi-finals and are looking to repeated their 2013 treble-winning campaign. "We had a lot of problems creating good attacks and made too many fouls allowing set pieces," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola told reporters. "We made it complicated for ourselves but we improved after the goal. "Now we need three wins and a draw to achieve what no other German team has done before." Guardiola replaced Arturo Vidal after 27 minutes following a booking and another rough foul that could have seen him sent off with the Chile midfielder storming straight down the tunnel. The visitors settled their nerves when David Alaba controlled the ball before firing in at the near post with a fine left-footed effort seven minutes after the restart. But some dreadful defending in the box saw Stuttgart's Daniel Didavi, on the ground, chip the ball over keeper Manuel Neuer to cut the deficit and set up a dramatic finale. Bayern almost scored again through Thiago in the 78th but keeper Przemyslaw Tyton tipped the ball onto the bar to rescue the hosts as Stuttgart kept pressing for an equaliser. The visitors' Brazilian Douglas Costa took matters into his own hands in the 89th, cutting in from the right and releasing an unstoppable shot past Tyton to seal Bayern's win. Fellow Champions League quarter-finalists VfL Wolfsburg came down to earth with a 1-1 draw at home to Mainz 05 after their stunning 2-0 first-leg win over Real Madrid and stay eighth. The Wolves, who had central defender Dante sent off for a second booking in stoppage time, slipped six points behind Mainz who are sixth on 45, the last Europa League qualifying spot. Borussia Moenchengladbach failed to close on third-placed Hertha Berlin after a 1-0 loss at Ingolstadt, who scored in the 87th through Moritz Hartmann, that left them fourth on 45, four off Hertha who drew 2-2 at home to Hanover 96 on Friday. The top three automatically qualify for the Champions League with the fourth-placed team facing a playoff round. Promoted Darmstadt 98 took a big step towards securing their top-flight safety with a 2-1 win at Hamburg SV to move up to 32 points in 13th place, four above the relegation playoff spot. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)