Bayern earn Christmas No1

By Manfred Christoph

FC Bayern München go into the Bundesliga break as 'winter champions' ahead of FC Schalke 04 on goal difference after coming back from two behind to draw 2-2 with VfB Stuttgart.

Bayern late equaliser
Stuttgart's Silvio Meissner opened the scoring in the first half at the Olympiastadion, and Kevin Kuranyi doubled the advantage on 65 minutes. However, Claudio Pizarro pulled a goal back for Bayern straight away and, with two minutes left, substitute Paulo Guerrero levelled the scores.

Schalke fail
Schalke could still have led the way with victory against bottom side SC Freiburg, but although Mladen Krstajic put the UEFA Cup contenders ahead, Roda Antar equalised four minutes from time. Stuttgart are three points behind the leading pair in third.

Werder strike back 
Champions Werder Bremen recovered from conceding a 50th-minute Carsten Jancker goal for visitors 1. FC Kaiserslautern to draw when Tim Borowski made it 1-1 on the hour. The result takes Bremen into fifth as Hertha BSC Berlin defeated Hannover 96 1-0 with a Nando Rafael effort early in the second half. Bremen, Hertha and Hannover are all six points adrift of Bayern.

Bochum worries
Hamburger SV remained in touch with the European contenders as they won 2-1 at struggling VfL Bochum 1848 with first-half goals from Sergej Barbarez and Collin Benjamin. Tommy Bechmann scored an 83rd-minute consolation.

Deflected shot
Elsewhere, lowly FC Hansa Rostock drew 1-1 with 14th-placed BV Borussia Dortmund, while 1. FC Nürnberg ended fellow promoted team 1. FSV Mainz 05's unbeaten home record with a 1-0 victory.

Sunday encounters
The league reaches its halfway point on Sunday when VfL Wolfsburg aim to end a run of three straight defeats and move into fourth by defeating DSC Arminia Bielefeld, while Bayer 04 Leverkusen visit VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. Fixtures resume on 22 January.