Leverkusen hold Bayern goalless in Bundesliga

A 10-men Bayer Leverkusen held leaders Bayern Munich to a goalless draw that saw the Bavarians' lead at the top of the Bundesliga football championship reduced to eight points.

Bayern, who on Saturday saw second-placed Leipzig crush Freiburg 4-0, controlled the proceedings on the pitch but they lacked in accuracy to overcome Bayer Leverkusen's well-positioned defense, reports Xinhua news agency.

Carlo Ancelotti's men should have grabbed the lead after the restart as Leverkusen's Tin Jedvaj saw his second yellow card to receive his marching order after 59 minutes.

Despite one man down, Leverkusen stood firm and denied Bayern three points as neither Thomas Mueller nor Philipp Lahm were able to tap home one of the plenty opportunities.

With the draw, Bayern stay atop the standings with 69 points, and an eight-point advantage to Leipzig, while Leverkusen jump on the 11th place of the Bundesliga standings.

Leipzig ensured that they will definitely play in the UEFA Champions League next season as they crushed Freiburg 4-0 to wrap up the 19th victory of the season.

With five games to spare, second placed Leipzig sit 18 points ahead of fifth placed Berlin and have a guaranteed top-four finish, which ensures at least the UEFA Champions League's play-off round.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim defended their third place after beating resilient Monchengladbach 5-3 thanks to the brace from Adam Szalai.

Fourth placed Borussia Dortmund edged Frankfurt 3-1 to return to winning ways.

Mainz ended their five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory over fifth placed Hertha Berlin, who suffered the eighth consecutive defeat on the road.

Augsburg downed Cologne 2-1 with two first half goals and Wolfsburg overcame relegation threatened Ingolstadt 3-0.

--IANS

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