Berlin (dpa) - Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach each
missed the chance to strike a blow in the race for Champions League
spots as the sides played out a 1-1 Bundesliga draw Sunday.
Hosts Leverkusen went in front in the 18th minute when Hakan
Calhanoglu lashed a dipping shot over keeper Yann Sommer from outside the box.
Gladbach levelled before the break as Roel Brouwers met a corner from Thorgan Hazard to volley home a deserved 40th-minute equalizer. Brouwers also wasted a great chance to win the match as fired over from point blank range following another corner in the second half.
The draw lifts Leverkusen to third and Gladbach fourth, both on 24 points. They are ahead of fifth-placed Augsburg, who lost 4-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich Saturday, on goal difference.
Later Sunday Wolfsburg were left frustrated at being held to a 1-1 home draw by Paderborn in a match they controlled from start to finish. Wolfsburg are six points clear in second but trail Bayern by nine.
"The result was okay over the whole 90 minutes," Gladbach coach Lucien Favre told Sky TV. "Unfortunately we did not always have the accuracy on the last pass on the break.
"It was not easy against the pressing of Leverkusen but a draw is not bad."
Bayer sporting director Rudi Voeller agreed "after such a game sometimes you have to be happy with a draw," while captain Simon Rolfes said both teams contributed to a very good match.
Leverkusen first threatened as Karim Bellarabi had a shot palmed away by Sommer but moments later the Gladbach keeper had to pick the ball out of the net.
A long clearance was flicked on by Stefan Kiessling and Calhanoglu was given too much space by the Gladbach defence. The Turkish international found the top corner with his shot but Sommer was perhaps a fraction too far from his line.
If Sommer was at fault for the opening goal, he redeemed himself with a magnificent finger-tip save from Bellarabi's attempt to curl the ball home at the far post.
And just moments later Gladbach were level as Leverkusen failed to deal with a corner and defender Brouwers sent a controlled volley beyond Bernd Leno.
After the break Gladbach remained the more threatening with Kruse shooting wide from a tight angle before Brouwers blazed off-target with the goal at his mercy from a corner.
Wolfsburg lost further ground in the title race as they could only draw at home to Paderborn despite being by far the stronger team throughout.
"We have dominated the opposition and failed against a class goalkeeper," Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said.
They were denied a fourth league win in succession thanks to Alban Meha's 51st minute penalty for Paderborn, the first in their Bundesliga history. It was a controversial award, given after Naldo was deemed to have fouled Christian Strohdiek.
It was Strohdiek's second involvement in a penalty incident as he had conceded a spot kick for fouling Bas Dost in the first half. Keeper Lukas Kruse produced the highlight of an exceptional personal performance to save the attempt from Ivan Perisic.
At this stage the score was already 1-0 as Rafa had put into his own net in the 17th minute in trying to prevent Dost having a tap in from Vieirinha's header across goal.
Following the penalty miss Dost had a goal disallowed for a push and the unfortunate Dutchman had a strong claim for a second spot kick turned down as he was bundled over moments after Paderborn levelled.
Paderborn were forced to defend deeply but Kruse made a point blank save from Dost's header and leapt full length to keep out a looping effort from Naldo.
Deep into injury time he made one last save, to deny Nicklas Bendtner from inside the six-yard box, and Paderborn had survived to claim an unlikely point.
Paderborn are now five matches without a win but the newly promoted side remain 10th in the table.
Hosts Leverkusen went in front in the 18th minute when Hakan
Calhanoglu lashed a dipping shot over keeper Yann Sommer from outside the box.
Gladbach levelled before the break as Roel Brouwers met a corner from Thorgan Hazard to volley home a deserved 40th-minute equalizer. Brouwers also wasted a great chance to win the match as fired over from point blank range following another corner in the second half.
The draw lifts Leverkusen to third and Gladbach fourth, both on 24 points. They are ahead of fifth-placed Augsburg, who lost 4-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich Saturday, on goal difference.
Later Sunday Wolfsburg were left frustrated at being held to a 1-1 home draw by Paderborn in a match they controlled from start to finish. Wolfsburg are six points clear in second but trail Bayern by nine.
"The result was okay over the whole 90 minutes," Gladbach coach Lucien Favre told Sky TV. "Unfortunately we did not always have the accuracy on the last pass on the break.
"It was not easy against the pressing of Leverkusen but a draw is not bad."
Bayer sporting director Rudi Voeller agreed "after such a game sometimes you have to be happy with a draw," while captain Simon Rolfes said both teams contributed to a very good match.
Leverkusen first threatened as Karim Bellarabi had a shot palmed away by Sommer but moments later the Gladbach keeper had to pick the ball out of the net.
A long clearance was flicked on by Stefan Kiessling and Calhanoglu was given too much space by the Gladbach defence. The Turkish international found the top corner with his shot but Sommer was perhaps a fraction too far from his line.
If Sommer was at fault for the opening goal, he redeemed himself with a magnificent finger-tip save from Bellarabi's attempt to curl the ball home at the far post.
And just moments later Gladbach were level as Leverkusen failed to deal with a corner and defender Brouwers sent a controlled volley beyond Bernd Leno.
After the break Gladbach remained the more threatening with Kruse shooting wide from a tight angle before Brouwers blazed off-target with the goal at his mercy from a corner.
Wolfsburg lost further ground in the title race as they could only draw at home to Paderborn despite being by far the stronger team throughout.
"We have dominated the opposition and failed against a class goalkeeper," Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said.
They were denied a fourth league win in succession thanks to Alban Meha's 51st minute penalty for Paderborn, the first in their Bundesliga history. It was a controversial award, given after Naldo was deemed to have fouled Christian Strohdiek.
It was Strohdiek's second involvement in a penalty incident as he had conceded a spot kick for fouling Bas Dost in the first half. Keeper Lukas Kruse produced the highlight of an exceptional personal performance to save the attempt from Ivan Perisic.
At this stage the score was already 1-0 as Rafa had put into his own net in the 17th minute in trying to prevent Dost having a tap in from Vieirinha's header across goal.
Following the penalty miss Dost had a goal disallowed for a push and the unfortunate Dutchman had a strong claim for a second spot kick turned down as he was bundled over moments after Paderborn levelled.
Paderborn were forced to defend deeply but Kruse made a point blank save from Dost's header and leapt full length to keep out a looping effort from Naldo.
Deep into injury time he made one last save, to deny Nicklas Bendtner from inside the six-yard box, and Paderborn had survived to claim an unlikely point.
Paderborn are now five matches without a win but the newly promoted side remain 10th in the table.
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