Super-sub Helmes levels for Leverkusen

Germany striker Patrick Helmes came off Leverkusen’s bench on Sunday to score the late equaliser which sealed a 2-2 draw with Freiburg to keep his side third in the Bundesliga.

With the game played in a snow blizzard, Helmes came on in the 69th minute and netted just six minutes later to put his side level after Freiburg had fought back from conceding an early goal to lead 2-1.

Leverkusen opened the scoring when Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal netted an early penalty.

Despite the sub-zero temperatures at Leverkusen’s Bay Arena and snow settling on the pitch, Freiburg fought back as midfielders Jan Rosenthal and striker Stefan Reisinger netted either side of half-time.

Helmes won the last of his 13 caps against Denmark in August more than a year after his previous appearance having torn knee ligaments while playing football with friends.

He has struggled to regain the form which put him into the national side, but he showed his strength and finishing to score the equaliser on 75 minutes.

The result leaves Leverkusen third and Freiburg fifth while league leaders Borussia Dortmund keep a 10-point gap despite losing 1-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Also on Saturday Mainz went second after a tense 4-2 win at wintry St Pauli.

Both Mainz striker Andre Shuerrle and St Pauli midfielder Matthias Lehmann scored two goals, but a deft first-half chip by Mainz’s Hungary striker Adam Szalai kept the guests ahead on a bitterly cold night in Hamburg.

Earlier leaders Dortmund were stunned when the league’s top-scorer Theofanis Gekas netted his 14th league goal of the season on 86 minutes with some superb finishing.

It was only the second defeat of the season for the league’s top side.

Dortmund would have claimed the German league record for the best start to the season if they had drawn or won.

Defending champions Bayern Munich are at Stuttgart later on Sunday and will be 14 points behind the leaders if they claim a victory.

Fourth-placed Hanover were stunned 3-1 at mid-table Nuremberg, while Champions League last 16-qualifiers Schalke picked up their third-straight league win with a 3-0 win over Cologne as Spain striker Raul hit a hat-trick.

It was his second in the German league since joining Schalke from Real Madrid at the start of the season.

Hoffenheim allowed a 2-0 lead to slip to a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg as ex-England manager Steve McClaren’s side fought back.

The result leaves Wolfsburg 13th in the league and just four points from the relegation zone, while Hoffenheim are eighth.

Werder Bremen slipped further towards the relegation zone when they were beaten 2-1 by Kaiserslautern to suffer their second straight defeat.

Both sides had players sent off in a bad-tempered match.

It was Bremen’s eighth reversal of the season in 17 games and they are 14th in the league, four points above third from bottom Cologne.