Germany striker Steffan Kiessling sent Bayer Leverkusen back to the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday with a first-half equalizer that sealed a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich.
The single point allows Leverkusen to regain top spot from temporary leaders Werder Bremen, who had hammered Freiburg 6-0 on Saturday, while Bayern are seventh in the table.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“If we had had more confidence in ourselves, we could have played to win,” a disappointed Kiessling said. “In the second half, we were too focused on defending and we didn’t produce as much up front as we had done in the first half.”
Kiessling had made his first appearance for Germany for nine months in last Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with the Ivory Coast and he scored his third goal in his third league game to give his side the valuable point.
Bayern have drawn their last three league games and coach Louis van Gaal is coming under increasing pressure with the winter break fast approaching.
Van Gaal kept virtually the same starting lineup that drew 1-1 with Schalke 04 in their last league game, the only change being Italian striker Luca Toni, who was left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.
With Toni in the stands, van Gaal opted to partner Mario Gomez alongside Miroslav Klose up front, who had been quarantined after his twin sons contracted swine flu 10 days ago.
Klose showed he is in top form by creating the chance that Gomez gratefully netted. Having beaten the defense, Klose flicked the ball into the path of his Germany teammate Gomez, who stabbed his shot into the Leverkusen net on eight minutes.
Leverkusen responded almost immediately when Kiessling latched onto a deep pass from Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal and smashed his shot past Munich goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt after 14 minutes.
Kiessling was left frustrated moments later when he netted a second goal, only to see his effort ruled offside, but the replay showed the goal should have stood.
Hamburg SV’s ambitions of joining Leverkusen at the top of the table suffered a rude shock when second-from-bottom VfL Bochum poached a 1-0 win after midfielder Dennis Grote hit the winner in the last 10 minutes.
The defeat leaves Hamburg fifth.
German Bundesliga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 13 | 17 | 27 |
2 | Werder Bremen | 13 | 19 | 26 |
3 | Schalke 04 | 13 | 9 | 25 |
4 | Hoffenheim | 13 | 13 | 23 |
5 | Hamburg SV | 13 | 10 | 23 |
6 | Mainz | 13 | 2 | 22 |
7 | Bayern Munich | 13 | 8 | 21 |
8 | VfL Wolfsburg | 13 | 2 | 21 |
9 | Borussia Dortmund | 13 | -2 | 18 |
10 | Hannover 96 | 13 | 0 | 16 |
11 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 13 | -6 | 16 |
12 | Borussia M’gladbach | 13 | -6 | 15 |
13 | SC Freiburg | 13 | -14 | 13 |
14 | Nuremberg | 13 | -8 | 12 |
15 | Cologne | 13 | -8 | 12 |
16 | VfB Stuttgart | 13 | -5 | 11 |
17 | VfL Bochum | 13 | -12 | 11 |
18 | Hertha Berlin | 13 | -19 | 5 |
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