Munich: Bayern Munich’s perfect Bundesliga start came to a screeching halt when they drew 1-1 with Cologne here Saturday but they still protected their three-point lead after rivals Borussia Dortmund lost 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen.
The Bavarians, who lost at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek, hit the woodwork three times but failed to make their dominance count, with Cologne protecting their undefeated run.
Bayern, however, stayed three points clear at the top on 16 after a surprisingly toothless Dortmund conceded one goal in each half to slump to their second loss of the season at Leverkusen and drop to third on 12, level with fourth-placed Cologne.
The hosts struggled against the hard-working Cologne defenders for 40 minutes before Joshua Kimmich finally broke the deadlock, diving to head in a beautiful Juan Bernat cross for the lead.
But it was Cologne who scored when striker Anthony Modeste timed his run to perfection, taking off inside the box to volley a cross into the back of Manuel Neuer’s net for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Cologne keeper Timo Horn made the save of the day when he punched a point-blank Mueller volley on to the crossbar and the Bavarians also hit the woodwork with a powerful low drive by Bernat five minutes from time.
Hertha Berlin climbed to second spot on 13 points, after easing past Hamburg SV 2-0 with two goals from Vedad Ibisevic, who became a father late Friday. Dortmund were a shadow of their attacking self as mercurial Leverkusen took a 10th-minute lead through Admir Mehmedi’s header.
Mexican striker Javier Hernandez scored his fifth goal in a week when he slotted in a Hakan Calhanoglou pass in the 79th to dash any hopes of a Dortmund comeback and lift his team to seventh place.
Reuters
