Podolski strike gives Bayern draw

Lukas Podolski scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season to earn Bayern Munich a 1-1 draw away to Nuremberg yesterday, taking the leaders a step closer to a 21st league title.

Nuremberg went ahead via a dream strike from Zvjezdan Misimovic late in the first half of the Bavarian derby, before Podolski came off the bench to give Bayern a valuable point on a day when none of the top sides could win.

With eight games left to play, Bayern remain seven points clear with 54 points from 26 matches.

Hamburg are second on 47 after they snatched a 1-1 draw at home to Arminia Bielefeld in a match that saw both sides finish a man short.

David Jarolim's red card was the more noteworthy, as it came for grabbing the genitals of opponent Markus Schuler.

Schalke moved up to third on 45 after a 0-0 draw away to Karlsruhe in their final warm-up for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Bayer Leverkusen lost 2-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and slip to fourth on 44, ahead of Werder Bremen on goal difference after they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Duisburg, who moved out of the relegation zone having started the day in bottom place.

Bayern suffered a stinging 3-0 defeat away to Nuremberg in the first game of Ottmar Hitzfeld's second spell as coach, just under 14 months ago.

They have since re-established themselves as Germany's leading club and have their sights set on a treble of league, cup and UEFA Cup in what will be Hitzfeld's final season in charge before he goes on to coach the Swiss national team.

The short trip north to face Nuremberg is usually a tricky outing, though, and so it proved again yesterday as Bayern failed to make the most of their early chances.

Chances came and went before Nuremberg took the lead with a looping shot from the edge of the box from Misimovic. Jan Koller missed the chance to make it 2-0 before Podolski latched on to a through ball from Franck Ribery to score the equaliser.