Bayern levels with Leverkusen, Schalke upset by bottom team
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German Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich defended the top place despite a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen while Schalke 04 lost surprisingly to bottom team Hanover 96 on Saturday.
After the Champions League miracle at Old Trafford against Manchester United, Bayern started highly motivated to extend the gap in the Bundesliga table.
Leverkusen defended deep and lurked for counters against Bayern, whose offensive actions remained inaccurate. Leverkusen turned up and rattled the right post with 38 minutes into the match.
Five minutes into second half, Leverkusen defender Gonzalo Castro fouled midfielder Franck Ribery and referee Knut Kircher pointed onto the penalty spot.
Midfielder Arjen Robben converted left-footed into bottom left to give Bayern the lead.
Leverkusen showed all their class and equalized only eight minutes later. Midfielder Arturo Vidal hammered the ball from close distance into the open goal after a free kick by Stefan Kiessling rattled the bar and landed in front of him inside penalty area.
After the equalizer, Leverkusen pilled on the pressure but failed to convert its opportunities within the final whistle, while Bayern seemed idealess and showed poor passing at the finish.
Bayern sits on top with 60 points followed by Schalke with 58 points and Leverkusen with 54 points.
Bottom team Hanover surprisingly beat second-placed Schalke 4-2 in an entertaining seesaw match as both teams staged a concentrated start.
Only 17 minutes into the match, Hanover defender Manuel Schmiedebach's pass into penalty area was deflected by Schalke defender Heiko Westermann into his own goal.
Hanover preserved the momentum until the 29th minutes to double the lead. Striker Didier Ya Konan utilized the chance in front of Schalke's goal and nutmeged Schalke goalie Manuel Neuer to extend the lead for Hanover.
Schalke was absolutely out of sorts and unable to fight back within the break.
After the interval, Schalke started organized and aggressive. Their actions were rewarded only 46 seconds into second half when striker Edu finished a combination with striker mate Kevin Kuranyi into far post corner to shorten the score.
With 52 minutes into the match, referee Peter Gagelmann awarded Schalke a penalty after a foul play by defender Mario Eggiman. Schalke midfielder Ivan Rakitic converted right-footed into bottom left to level the score.
Schalke was on fire but was unable to break through Hanover's well-organized defence.
With 80 minutes into the match, Hanover midfielder Hanno Balitsch finished a fast break into top left corner to bring his team 3-2 up front.
Schalke offensively orientated to score the equalizer, but it was Hanover's striker Ya Konan who extended the lead inside additional time to 4-2 after a counter attack.
Schalke thus failed to set Bayern under pressure with a defeat over bottom team Hanover which remains on 16th position.
Mainz striker Adam Szalai scored the only goal of the match at the 30th minute to destroy Borussia Dortmund's hopes to climb onto a Champions League spot.
Both teams remain on their positions, Mainz on 10th position and Dortmund on 4th position.
Werder Bremen inflicted relegation-threatened Freiburg a hammering 4-0 defeat. Two goals by striker Claudio Pizzaro, one goal by striker Aaron Hunt and one goal by midfielder Mesut Oezil were enough to send Freiburg home with a heavy defeat.
Freiburg slipped from 16th to 17th position while Bremen stays on 5th position.
Stuttgart striker Cacau needed only 17 minutes to decide the match against bottom team Berlin.
Cacau marked the undeserved decider at the 74th minute while Berlin frantically pressed for the winner to climb out of Bundesliga basement. Berlin remains on 18th position while Stuttgart jumped from 7th to 6th position.
Cologne defeated struggling Hoffenheim 2-0 in a boring match. Hoffenheim slipped from 11th to 12th position while Cologne sits on 13th position.
Already on Friday Gladbach destroyed Frankfurt's hope for a Europa League spot after a 2-0 away defeat. Frankfurt remains on 8th position while Gladbach climbed from 12th to 11th position.
On Sunday, Bundesliga Bochum will host Hamburg and Nuremberg will face defending champions Wolfsburg.
