Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich shared a goalless stalemate for the first time since 1990 yesterday as the record Bundesliga champions failed to take full advantage of Borussia Dortmund’s draw in Berlin earlier in the afternoon.

After second-placed Dortmund had been held by Hertha, Bayern restored their eight-point advantage at the top of the table in the evening kick-off, but will have felt they could have extended it to 10 – particularly following the introduction of Thomas Mueller in the second half.

In the end, Bayern had to settle for just a point in a match they finished with 10 men, Xabi Alonso receiving his marching orders five minutes from time.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who will take over at Manchester City at the end of the season, had warned about the potential aerial threat of Stefan Kiessling, but it was Omer Toprak who met a Hakan Calhanoglu corner to give Manuel Neuer work to do.

Bayern slowly started to take control of proceedings after that, however, and it was they who posed the greater threat in a largely tactical first 45 minutes.

Arturo Vidal’s return to the BayArena to face his former club ended early in the second half when he took a Karim Bellarabi shot on his head and struggled to regain his bearings.

Mueller wasted Bayern’s best chance of the game just past the hour-mark when he volleyed Kingsley Coman’s cross over from close range, before he spurned another opportunity from Douglas Costa’s pull-back soon after.

Dortmund, on 45 points, were lacking their attacking form of recent weeks despite the return of midfielder Marco Reus and playmaker Ilkay Guendogan.

Surprise package Hertha, third on 35, refused to buckle and came agonisingly close to snatching a winner when Salomon Kalou fired narrowly wide.

Schalke made it two wins in a row when they beat Wolfsburg 3-0 to move up to fourth spot on 33 points with Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar grabbing the lead in the 24th minute.

Johannes Geis curled a free-kick over the wall and into the net 11 minutes later and substitute Alessandro Schoepf completed their win with a fine shot from 18 metres three minutes from time.

The Wolves are now without a win in their last seven league games.

VfB Suttgart made it four wins in a row when they crushed struggling Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 to move further away from the relegation zone they had occupied for much of the season and into 11th place on 24 points.

Both teams were left with 10 players after Stuttgart scorer Daniel Didavi was given his marching orders for a second booking in the 67th minute while Eintracht Frankfurt’s Carlos Zambrano was sent off eight minutes later.

Results
B. Leverkusen vs B. Munich - 0-0
E. Frankfurt vs Stuttgart - 2-4
Hanover vs Mainz - 0-1
Hertha Berlin vs B. Dortmund - 0-0
Ingolstadt vs Augsburg - 2-1
Schalke vs Wolfsburg - 3-0

Playing today
Hamburg vs Cologne - 15.30
Hoffenheim vs Darmstadt - 17.30

Standings