Munich boss Rummenigge slams careless Bayern

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has accused the German giants of carelessness after allowing struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach to score two late goals in Saturday's 2-2 draw.

A first-half goal from Italy striker Luca Toni and a second-half penalty from France midfielder Franck Ribery meant Bayern were 2-0 up at 'Gladbach with barely 15 minutes left.

But headers from Canada striker Rob Friend and United States midfielder Michael Bradley snatched the draw and brought to an end Bayern's five-match winning streak to keep the defending Bundesliga champions third in the table.

“We're guilty of carelessness,” said Rummenigge, after Bayern did virtually the same thing to draw 3-3 at home against minnows Bochum last month.

“We were comfortably in the lead here and had the chances to make it three or even four.

“At the end of the day, we've only taken a point when it simply should have been three. It's a bad day at the office when we've dropped vital points. We drew 3-3 with Bochum at home, and here it's finished 2-2.

“If we hadn't dropped these four points, we'd definitely have been top of the league – these are the matches we simply have to win.”

The equalising goal by Bradley with nine minutes left was particularly painful for the Bayern defence as the midfielder was left unmarked in the penalty area.

“You can't be 2-1 up and then suddenly find yourselves outnumbered in your own penalty area, that's not on,” said Bayern's Germany defender Philipp Lahm.

“Perhaps we thought we were home and dry and didn't concentrate hard enough. We had the match under control and we made chances, but we didn't kill the game there and then.

“We had a huge opportunity to take all three points here, but instead it's a case of dropping two.”

The result leaves Bayern three points off leaders Bayer Leverkusen – who they face in a fortnight – but Munich play the Bundesliga's bottom club Energie Cottbus at home next weekend which will give them a chance to close the gap.

Leverkusen stayed top of the league after their 2-1 win over Schalke 04, despite being reduced to ten men.

First-half goals by Germany strikers Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kiessling meant Leverkusen were 2-0 up at half-time then had defender Gonzalo Castro sent off just after the hour mark before Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi scored a late consolation header.

“I must pay a huge compliment to my team that they never lost patience for this important game,” said Bayer coach Bruno Labbadia.

“After the red card, we were under pressure, but the team showed the desire to fight for every ball.”

Second-placed Hoffenheim had a tough time as guests Wolfsburg fought back twice before the home side sealed a 3-2 win as Bosnia striker Vedad Ibisevic scored his 14th goal in 13 games to remain the league's top scorer.

Two goals in three minutes gave Hertha Berlin a 2-1 win over Hamburg at Berlin's Olympic Stadium to fire the home side to fourth in the table.

In Saturday's other results, Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart drew 0-0 with Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottus picked only their second win of the season when they beat Karlsruhe 1-0.

On Friday, Hanover and Bochum drew 1-1, while on Sunday Werder Bremen moved up to seventh in the league with their 3-1 win over Cologne with goals by Brazilians Diego and Naldo as well as Portugal's Hugo Almeida.