Bayern lose ground as Bremen and Hamburg win

 Bayern have 28 points from their 12 games, while Hamburg, who beat Hertha Berlin 2-1, are two points behind. Bremen, who won 1-0 against Hansa Rostock are a further two points behind.

 In Munich Bayern enjoyed virtually all of the possession and created chance after chance, but top scorers Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose failed to be as lethal as they have been in previous games.

 Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, whose only other league appearance this season was coming on as a second half substitute in September, was in excellent form and pulled off a number of world- class saves.

 "Every game is special, but to get a point in Munich against Bayern is very special. I know we defended with 11 players at times, but against a team like Bayern you need to do that at times," Nikolov said.

 Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who saw his side have 38 shots at goal, said that it was bound to happen that his team failed to score at home.

 "We created chances, but there are simply days where things don't go as you would like them to go. Today was such a day and then even if we managed to get through, their goalkeeper was in place."

   In Bremen the home side completely dominated the first half and won through a Hugo Almeida goal scored in the 39th minute, after being set up by Leon Andreasen.

 In the second half Bremen sat back and allowed Rostock to come back into the game, but the side from eastern Germany failed to make the most of their chances.

 SV Hamburg, whose coach Huub Stevens is one of the coaches rumoured to be in line to take over at PSV EIndhoven, had an ideal start at home against the side from the capital and went ahead in the fourth minute through Paolo Guerrero.

 20-year-old Patrick Ebert equalized for Berlin in the 59th minute, but any hopes of sharing the spoils were dashed ten minutes from the end with a well-taken header by Bastian Reinhardt.

 Berlin captain Arne Friedrich said that even though his side had showed a good spirit by coming back, he would rather have the three points. "We get nothing for trying, I would much rather have the three points."

   Hanover 96 moved into fourth place in the table with 21 points after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Szabolcs Huszti and Christian Schulz scored the goals for the home side in the second half, while Florian Kringe pulled one back 11 minutes from the end.

 Theofanis Gekas and Sergej Barbarez scored two a piece as Bayer Leverkusen scored the biggest victory of the day, beating Arminia Bielefeld 4-0.

 Champions VfB Stuttgart won 1-0 at Nuremberg through Mario Gomez's fifth goal of the season.

 On Friday self-proclaimed title candidates Schalke 04 lost 1-0 at bottom of the table club Energie Cottbus, for whom Christian Bassila scored a minute after the restart.

 On Sunday VfL Bochum take on VfL Wolfsburg, while high-flying Karlsruhe SC are at home to MSV Duisburg.

DPA