Schweinsteiger saves Bayern

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger saved Bayern Munich's blushes with a second-half equaliser yesterday as the Bundesliga leaders were held 1-1 at Cologne.

Bayern were heading for their first defeat in any competition since last November until Schweinsteiger scored his first league goal since September to keep Munich two points clear at the top of the table.

Cologne's Lukas Podolski gave his side the lead against his former club when his direct free-kick on 32 minutes spun off goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt's hand and into the top left-hand corner of the net.

It was the 24-year-old's first league goal since September and he celebrated in style: fists pumping and pointing to the Cologne badge on his shirt.

But his Germany team-mate Schweinsteiger equalised for Bayern after some clever work by rising star Thomas Mueller in the penalty area on 58 minutes to give the guests a point.

It was nearly three when Bayern's second-half substitute Franck Ribery hit the post with less than six minutes remaining.

Leverkusen have the chance to go back to the table if they win at second-from-bottom Nuremburg today.

Second-placed Schalke 04 kept up the pressure on the league leaders with an impressive 4-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hanover, who are just above the relegation zone, picked up their first win in 14 games when they managed a 2-1 win at Freiburg.

Werder Bremen fought back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw with Stuttgart, who raced into an early lead.

The opening goal came after midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb won the ball in a duel with Bremen's Torsten Frings before a well-timed pass found Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who rifled his shot home on 15 minutes.

Stuttgart went 2-0 up when Sami Khedira headed home on 42 minutes.

But Portugal striker Hugo Almeida pulled a goal back for Bremen before Frings made up for his earlier mistake with a penalty on 82 minutes to claim the point which leaves Bremen sixth and Stuttgart seventh in the table.

Wolfsburg survived an early scare at home to Bochum before recording a comfortable 4-1 win.

Hertha Berlin remain rooted to the bottom of the table after their 1-0 loss at Hamburg.