Ze Roberto extends Bayern’s lead
Bayern Munich draw but still manage to extend their lead.
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| Luca Toni’s effort was ruled out but Ze Roberto saved the day [AFP] |
Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto scored in the 66th minute to help Bayern Munich salvage a 1-1 draw against fourth-place Hamburger SV in the German Bundesliga.
The draw moved Bayern four points clear of Werder Bremen, which lost to Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Saturday, but Hamburg still stopped the leaders from pulling further away.
“It’s upsetting that we lost these two points at home,” Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said.
“We absolutely wanted to win.”
Bayern leads the league with 44 points from 21 matches, followed by Bremen with 40 and Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg with 38 each.
France midfielder Franck Ribery passed to Ze Roberto, who put a low shot past charging Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost.
Ivica Olic had scored for Hamburg in the 60th.
“We want to stay up there in the table, to do that you have to get a point in Bayern,” Rost said.
Ribery, who was making his first appearance since Feb. 1 because of a torn thigh muscle, was inserted just after Ivica’s goal, and the change picked up Bayern’s attack.
The forthcoming chances included Luca Toni’s late offside goal.
Bayern get generous
Hamburg scored after Bayern defender Lucio pushed the ball too far ahead on the dribble. David Jarolim stepped in and passed to Olic, who got off a rising shot before two defenders reached him.
“The win was in the air, but we gifted them the goal,” Hitzfeld said.
Bayern midfielder Mark van Bommel was ejected in injury time for an obscene gesture directed at an official.
The match between the teams, who have yielded the fewest goals against each other, led to an uninspired first half that subdued the 69,000 fans at Bayern’s Allianz Arena.
Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, like Ribery, didn’t play until after the break due to an ankle injury, leaving the game short of creative energy.
Also Sunday, a 59th-minute goal by Dennis Sorensen gave Energie Cottbus a 1-1 draw against FC Nuremberg in a battle of bottom teams.
A minute earlier, Marco Engelhard had scored for Nuremberg.
Also this weekend, it was: Bochum 2, Hannover 1; Bayer Leverkusen 1, Schalke 0; Wolfsburg 0, Hertha Berlin 0; Stuttgart 3, Karlsruher SC 1; Borussia Dortmund 1, Hansa Rostock 0; and Arminia Bielefeld 0, Duisburg 2.