BUNDES LIGA: Jiri Stajner’s late spot-kick reins in the ‘Rothosen’

Hamburg SV bagged a share of second spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday despite Czech Republic striker Jiri Stajner netting a late penalty for Hannover 96 to share the points in a 2-2 draw.

Hamburg were cruising to a 2-1 win to close the gap behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Friday, before Stajner was hauled down with just five minutes to go.

The 33-year-old made no mistake with his shot and drilled it past Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost to put his side ninth, while Hamburg are now three points behind Leverkusen.

Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia said: “This is a bad result for us, as the team worked hard. I told the ref he bottled it with the penalty decision.”

Stajner went down in the area, before dusting himself off to convert the penalty on 86 minutes to give the home side a share of the points.

Hamburg’s former Germany defender Marcell Jansen opened the scoring with a superb opening goal. The 24-year-old leftback, who is not in the Germany squad for this month’s friendlies, finished the move he started after a neat pass from Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia, before drilling his shot into Hannover’s net on 15 minutes.

Hannover’s Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan, who looks set to face Germany in a friendly for his country in Gelsenkirchen on Nov. 18, equalized with a header on 28 minutes, but Elia put his side back in the lead on 44 minutes when he headed home after some good work from Piotr Trochowski, only for the late spot-kick drama to save Hannover.

Hamburg share second spot with neighbors Werder Bremen, who drew 1-1 at home to Borussia Dortmund after Argentine Lukas Barrios equalized Mesut Ozil’s opener for Werder.

Elsewhere on Sunday, bottom side Hertha Berlin slid to a 1-0 home loss to Cologne after Slovenian favorite Milivoje Novakovic netted the only goal at the Olympic Stadium.

Hertha, one win all season, are six points from safety.

On Saturday, Schalke 04 left Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena with a point after a 1-1 draw.

All is not well at Bayern after both Germany defender Philipp Lahm and Luca Toni were both fined on Sunday for disciplinary reasons. Lahm was fined for an article in the Sueddeutsche Zeitungen that criticized the club, coach Louis van Gaal and the players, while Toni was disciplined for leaving the stadium during the game after being replaced at halftime.

German Bundesliga