Bayern stay top as Schalke held in Hamburg

Schalke spurned the chance to go top of the Bundesliga after being held to a 2-2 draw at Hamburg on Sunday, leaving Bayern Munich top of the pile despite their defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Substitute Jonathan Pitroipa hit a late equaliser for Hamburg, who took the lead through Ruud van Nistelrooy but were pegged back by goals from Kevin Kuranyi and Ivan Rakitic.

With Bayern losing 2-1 after two late goals at Frankfurt on Saturday, Schalke’s draw leaves them second behind Louis van Gaal’s side, who they meet in the German Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

Hamburg took the lead in the 40th minute when Germany midfielder Piotr Trochowski floated in a free-kick that Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer parried straight into the path of van Nistelrooy.

Schalke equalised in the 62nd minute when midfielder Alexander Baumjohann, who only came on after 46 minutes, swung in a cross from the left and ex-Germany striker Kuranyi headed home.

And Baumjohann then won a penalty for the Royal Blues when he was hauled down by Hamburg’s Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen, with Rakitic netting at the second attempt to give the away side a 2-1 lead.

But the home side drew level when Trochowski fired in a cross on 77 minutes for Pitroipa to slot home.

Baumjohann then clipped the crossbar with a late chance while Pitroiopa fired over as both sides had chances to win the game.

On Saturday, Bayern suffered their first defeat in 20 league games after being floored by two late goals in three minutes at Frankfurt.

Bayern looked to be cruising to a 1-0 win after Miroslav Klose hit an early goal, but Frankfurt floored the Bavarian giants with goals by teenage striker Juvhel Tsoumou and fellow forward Martin Fenin.

The goals came on 87 and 89 minutes and inflicted only the third league defeat of the season on the Champions League quarter-finalists and their first loss in the Bundesliga since September.

On Saturday night, former leaders Bayer Leverkusen suffered another dent in their title aspirations when Argentinian striker Lucas Barrios scored twice to help Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 win.

Stuttgart took a step closer to a place in Europe with a 2-0 win at home to Hanover as their Romanian striker Ciprian Marica scored either side of half-time. The result leaves Christian Gross-coached Stuttgart seventh.

Werder Bremen, who are fighting to stay in the European places for next season, made hard work of their 3-2 win over Bochum which needed a late winner from German international Torsten Frings. The result leaves them fifth.

Bottom side Hertha Berlin face defending champions Wolfsburg on Sunday evening, but fellow relegation candidates Freiburg did the capital club no favours with a 1-0 win over Mainz that leaves Berlin eight points adrift at the table’s foot.

Cologne are five points above the relegation zone after being held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday.