Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga table on Saturday after a 1-1 draw away at lowly Nuremberg, but failed to extend their winning streak to what would have been a record-equaling 10 league victories.
A visibly furious Bayern coach Louis van Gaal defended his team.
“We created several chances, but we didn’t hit the target,” van Gaal said.
PHOTO: AFP
He attacked an interviewer who suggested his team were lacking in passion.
“I cannot believe you can say that,” he said, adding that the interviewer had seen the match “completely wrong.”
Midfielder Marco van Bommel was more philosophical.
“Obviously you can’t win every game in the Bundesliga,” the Dutchman said. “We can’t say that we were careless today. We deserved more and we didn’t play all that badly.”
Thomas Mueller, 20, replacing France international star Franck Ribery, who was absent with a foot injury, gave the German giants the lead, slotting home a cross from striker Mario Gomez into the top-right corner after 38 minutes.
Local rivals Nuremberg, however, equalized on 54 minutes when striker Ilkay Gundogan took advantage of confusion in Bayern’s defense to tap the ball home from short range.
Despite throwing on German striker Miroslav Klose in the second half, the 21-times Bundesliga champions were unable to deliver the telling blow, bringing to an end a run of 13 consecutive wins in all competitions.
The result means Bayern go one point clear at the top of the table.
Despite the unexpected point, the draw leaves newly-promoted Nuremberg in a precarious position, second from bottom with only 17 points from 23 games.
Meanwhile, VfB Stuttgart warmed up for tomorrow’s Champions League round-of-16 first-leg tie against Barcelona with an impressive 5-1 drubbing of Cologne, with Germany striker Cacau burnishing his World Cup credentials with four goals.
Stuttgart and Cacau were irresistible in a performance that will have set alarm bells ringing at the Camp Nou.
Cacau stabbed home a cross from defender Cristian Molinaro on 13 minutes, before curling a superb long-distance effort into the top-right corner after 31 minutes.
Another toe-poke in a goalmouth scramble on 38 minutes completed the Stuttgart man’s hat-trick and he made it four on 74 minutes, a performance that will not have gone unnoticed by Germany coach Joachim Loew.
Pavel Pogrebnyak completed the misery for the hosts, who are too close to relegation for comfort in 14th place.
Fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund also bolstered their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a 4-1 win at home to Hannover 96, who remain in relegation danger.
Hamburg SV, in fourth, were missing new signing Ruud van Nistelrooy with a thigh strain and they failed to pressure the leaders with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
FSV Mainz 05 and VfL Bochum also played out a 0-0 draw.
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