Bayern Munich were held goalless by bottom side Hamburg, a nine-man Schalke wrested one point from wasteful Frankfurt, and Mainz reaped a 2-0 win over Dortmund in the fourth round of Bundesliga football.
Hamburg Saturday wrapped up a goalless draw against much changed Bayern at the debut of coach Josef Zinnbauer, who took over following the dismissal of Mirko Slomka four days ago, reports Xinhua.
It was a resilient performance by Hamburg who reaped only one point out of three games. Five changes at Bayern's starting eleven facilitated Hamburg to shut down the visitor's offence at the first half.
After the restart, Hamburg shocked Bayern with the best chance of the match when Nicolai Mueller pulled just wide of the post. The golden chance for the hosts was a wakening call for the Bavarians who pressed Hamburg into defence in the closing period. However, Bayern's late efforts were not rewarded as Hamburg staged a well-positioned defence to ensure a share of the spoils.
"We can of course live with this goalless draw very well. This draw is very important for us in our situation," said Hamburg's new coach Josef Zinnbauer.
Frankfurt wasted a 2-0 lead as Schalke fought back to grab one point following a two all draw in an eventful match with three dismissals. Frankfurt ensured a bright start on the road as Alexander Meier broke the deadlock with 15 minutes into the game. The striker exploited a rebound following a corner to poke home from sharp angle.
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Schalke were unable to respond whereas Frankfurt kept it bowling to double the lead nine minutes later through Marco Russ, who shrugged off two Schalke player to slot home with the outside of the boot.
However, a handball penalty by Frankfurt allowed Schalke to reduce the arrears as Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting converted successfully from the spot with forty minutes into the game. After the goal the hosts piled on the pressure to restore parity at the 50th minute through Julian Draxler, who headed home the two all draw.
Schalke's Kevin Boateng weakened his side when he was sent off owing to his second yellow card at the 61st minute. Things went from bad to worse ten minutes later as Julian Draxler saw a straight red card following retaliation. Despite having only nine-men on the pitch Schalke were able toretain the draw, as Frankfurt's Slobodan Medojevic was also sent off due to his second bookable offence in the closing period.
"If you have a two-goal lead you have to earn more than one point," Frankfurt coach Thomas Schaaf said.
Borussia Dortmund suffered their second loss at the fourth game as clinical Mainz worked out a 2-0 victory to record their second win of the season. Mainz sealed the deal with two-second half goals.
Mainz' Shinji Okazaki scored the opener at the 66th minute following a square pass by Jario into the box. Dortmund had the chance to level the scores four minutes later but Mainz' goalkeeper Loris Karius denied Ciro Immobile a handball penalty. The own goal by Dortmund's Matthias Ginter, who tried to prevent a square pass by Jairointo the box, made the game safe for the hosts in the 74th minute.