Ten-man Bayern Munich moved to the top of the Bundesliga for at least 24 hours after a battling 2-2 draw at Stuttgart yesterday.

With surprise leaders Hoffenheim not playing until this evening, Juergen Klinsmann's men had looked set to take full advantage after fighting from a goal down at half-time to lead 2-1.

A red card for Massimo Oddo, following a lunging tackle on Stuttgart's Christian Traesch with five minutes to go, proved costly, however, with Sami Khedira going on to equalise for the home side one minute into stoppage time.

Stuttgart's late leveller means Hoffenheim can regain top spot going into the German winter break with a draw at home to Schalke 04 today.

"The sending-off was the turning point and completely incomprehensible from our point of view because Massimo was jumping for the ball and did not even see the opponent," Klinsmann said.

"Of course, it's disappointing to finish with a draw after playing so well in the second half but I think the squad have shown great class in the last three months and we're looking forward to building on that after the break."

The German champions were a clear second best as the match got underway and were deservedly punished when Khedira fired the home side ahead with a low header in first-half stoppage time.

Bayern turned things around shortly after the break with Tim Borowski knocking in an equaliser after Stuttgart keeper Jens Lehmann managed only to parry a fierce Bastian Schweinsteiger shot.

Luca Toni made it 2-1, again from close range, after the Stuttgart defence failed to clear a Philipp Lahm cross.

Stuttgart piled the pressure back on following Oddo's dismissal and settled the match when Khedira looped in his second goal, aided by Lehmann who had sprinted up the pitch to distract his Bayern counterpart Michael Rensing.

Bayer Leverkusen blew their own chances of leading at the league's midway point after conceding a stoppage time equaliser to draw 1-1 at home against struggling Energie Cottbus.