Hamburg upset Bayern Munich 2-1

Hamburg upset Bayern Munich 2-1 yesterday to hand the Bundesliga champions their first home defeat of the season and cut their lead at the top of the table to eight points.

Third place Hamburg's surprise victory in a Bavarian snowstorm was their first win in Munich in 24 years and ended Bayern's 19-match winning streak at home dating back to 2004.

Hamburg, the only team to beat Bayern this season, also overcame Felix Magath's men at home in September, 2-0.

The loss came ahead of Bayern's Champions League return leg showdown at Milan on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw in Munich last month.

Werder Bremen held on to second place on 50 points despite their 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen while Hamburg, level on points, are third on goal difference.

Hamburg's Nigel de Jong beat Bayern defenders Willy Sagnol and Valerien Ismael in the 89th minute to head a free kick past goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and shock Bayern.

"I don't understand why we gave up that last goal," said Kahn.

"An experienced team like this shouldn't give up a late goal like that. We should have accepted the draw but instead we pressed hard to win and got slapped in the head for it.

"That was a decisive moment where we should have been tactically smarter than that."

Hamburg's Ivory Coast defender Guy Demel was left unmarked on the right side and fired a wicked shot from close range past Kahn to open the scoring in the 16th minute before a crowd of 69,000. Kahn wrongly guessed Demel was trying to pass the ball.

Mehmet Scholl came off the bench to equalise for Bayern seven minutes from time and rejuvenate their attack, which was neutralised for the first half by Hamburg's compact defence and the deep mud on their pitch.

Bayern, who will need at least one goal in their Champions League game against Milan, looked surprisingly ineffective over long stretches against Hamburg.

Germany captain Michael Ballack and midfielders Sebastian Deisler and Sebastian Schweinsteiger were still licking their wounds from a humiliating 4-1 loss in a friendly against Italy on Wednesday and had little to offer.

International matches

"It's a problem for us after a week of international matches and before an important Champions League match next week," said Magath. "We weren't aggressive enough in the first half even though we were the home team.

"We were too passive and on a pitch in such poor condition like this it's difficult to play when you're behind."

Hamburg coach Thomas Doll, whose team were beaten by VfB Stuttgart last week and seemed to be slumping, said he was not ready to start talking about anyone stopping Bayern from lifting a 20th title.

"We were wide awake from the first minute unlike last week against Stuttgart," Doll said. "It was important for us to get back on the right track after last week's loss."