Schalke dominates
November 7, 2009
Eighteen-year-old Joel Matip headed home a free kick from Lukas Schmitz shortly before halftime to help his team draw 1-1 at Bayern Munich, cancelling out Daniel van Buyten's opening goal in the latest setback for Munich.
Bayern grabbed the lead on 31 minutes when defender Holger Badstuber sent a free kick into the box and van Buyten was at hand to tap in after Schalke's Kevin Kuranyi accidentally headed the ball into the Belgian's path.
The balance was restored just before the break when Lukas Schmitz floated a free kick into the box and Matip, until recently in Schalke's under-19 team, rose above Bayern defenders to head home.
The result leaves Munich stranded in eighth place with 20 points while Schalke are fourth with 22 points.
Bayer Leverkusen leads the way with 26 points from a 4-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday. Werder Bremen and SV Hamburg are on 22 like Schalke, ahead of their Sunday games against Borussia Dortmund and in Hannover 96, respectively.
In Saturday's other fixtures, VfL Wolfsburg won 2-1 at TSG Hoffenheim as second-half goals from Zvejzdan Misimovic and Grafite reversed Hoffenheim's lead from Vedad Ibisevic.
Wolfsburg have 21 points and so have Mainz 05, 1-0 winners over lowly Nuremberg from Elkin Soto's 38th-minute strike.
Borussia Moenchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart produced no goals, while VfL Bochum lost 2-1 at home against SC Freiburg.
Bochum and Nuremberg remained in the drop zone along with bottom club Hertha Berlin, who host struggling Cologne in a third game on Sunday.
rb/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Stephanie Siek