Increasingly weary Bayern Munich defended stoutly to achieve a
goalless draw in an away clash with Dortmund on Sunday, while a 1-0
narrow win is enough for Hamburg HSV to down the gap with Bayern by
four points.
Despite widespread fatigue after a faraway trip to Serbia three
days ago, Bayern tried to survive a second-half Dortmund onslaught
as Sunday's Bundesliga encounter ended in 0-0 stalemate.
The massive 80,708 full house at Signal Iduna Park saw a largely
scrappy first half with few chances at either end.
Bayern came closest to opening the scoring when Martin
Demichelis crashed a 30-yard drive off the crossbar and powerful
forward Miroslav Klose whacked the rebound against the post in the
36th minute.
However, Bayern's pre-match fears of possible fatigue following
Thursday's battle in Belgrade seemed to be borne out as the league
leaders lived dangerously for a spell in the second half.
But wasteful Borussia squandered a string of presentable
openings, and the match ended with the men in Red closer to
breaking the deadlock than the eager but ultimately limited home
team.
The draw leaves still undefeated Bayern top of the standings on
27 points from 11 matches, but the Bavarians' lead is down to four
points from new second-placed club Hamburg, 1-0 winners against
lowly Duisburg.
In Duisburg, a goal by Belgian international Vincent Kompany in
the 37 minute gave Hamburg HSV a slender but thoroughly deserved
victory.
After beating Brann Bergen away in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, it
was two wins in four days for coach Huub Stevens and his team.
The win sees HSV overtake old rivals Werder Bremen and move into
second place, four points behind leaders Bayern.
(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2007)