Frustrated Bayern held at home, lose ground to Dortmund

AFP, Berlin :
Bayern Munich leaked a late equaliser in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Freiburg to leave them four points adrift of Borussia Dortmund before next weekend’s Bundesliga showdown.
Having laboured to a 2-1 win at fourth-tier part-timers Roedinghausen in the German Cup on Tuesday, Bayern struggled again at the Allianz Arena – exactly a week before they travel to leaders Dortmund in a top-of-the-table clash.
“It’s been weeks now that we’ve not been showing our best football, and when this happens things don’t come as easily as usual,” admitted frustrated Bayern captain Manuel Neuer.
This was the first time Freiburg have left Munich with a point since 1997.
Bayern’s star-studded attack needed 80 minutes to break the deadlock when Serge Gnabry dribbled through the defence and struck his shot low into the bottom right-hand corner.
However, Freiburg showed heart when Lucas Hoeler beat Bayern centre-backs Niklas Suele and Jerome Boateng to equalise on 89 minutes and leave Munich head coach Niko Kovac shaking his head in frustration.
“Things would have been much easier if ‘Lewy’ (Robert Lewandowski) had put his chance away,” said Kovac after the Poland striker wasted several opportunities.
“The second half was hectic, we’re disappointed.”
There could be more bad news coming for Kovac as Borussia Moenchengladbach can leapfrog Bayern into second by beating strugglers Fortuna Duesseldorf at home on Sunday.
Dortmund restored their four-point lead over Bayern with a 1-0 win at Wolfsburg as club captain Marco Reus headed their first-half winner.
Injuries to Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer meant Dortmund had to reshuffle their defence, and they struggled to finish their chances.