Soccer

Stefan Kiessling (L) of Leverkusen scored his league-high ninth goal of the season.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRANKFURT -- Bayer Leverkusen rallied to earn a 1-1 draw on Sunday at Bayern Munich and regain the lead in the Bundesliga.

Stefan Kiessling notched his league-high ninth goal of the season in the 14th minute to equalize for Leverkusen, which is undefeated after 13 games and one point clear of Werder Bremen.

Mario Gomez, making a rare start for Bayern, scored the opening goal in the eighth minute.

Leverkusen, which has not won in Munich in 20 years, had another effort by Kiessling disallowed for offside.

The draw returned Leverkusen to the top of the table with 27 points. Bayern is seventh, six points off the lead.

Bayern fans jeered their team at the end of the match.

"We wanted to close the gap top the top, but we didn't succeed," Bayern defender Philipp Lahm said.

After tying the game, Leverkusen's quick, passing game allowed the visiting team to dominate the first half.

The pace dropped after the break, with little fluidity in the match.

Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler saved his team with a reflex stop on the line to deny Gomez from close range five minutes from time.

"We played very well in the first half but we didn't have good finishing because we should have scored more goals," said Leverkusen's coach Jupp Heynckes, who was on Bayern's bench for the final five games of last season.

"Bayern put us under more pressure in the second half and we were not as fresh," he said.

Bayern went ahead after Miroslav Klose provided a perfect pass for Gomez, who knocked the ball in with the outside of his left foot and inside the far post.

Gomez, signed for about $44 million U.S., has been left on the bench by coach Louis van Gaal, but started in place of Luca Toni, officially out with a muscle injury. Toni, however, recently criticized van Gaal.

Kiessling tied the game six minutes later when he collected a long pass from Arturo Vidal, easily shook off Daniel van Buyten and slotted the ball home.

Holger Badstuber tested Adler with a freekick but the Leverkusen goalkeeper punched the ball out.

"We played without confidence in the first half," van Gaal said. "We created more pressure in the second and should have scored. We are still six points behind and that is not good."

Van Gaal had come under criticism from Bayern bosses before the match and he could come under more pressure after the draw.

Bayern is all but out of the next stage of the Champions League before Wednesday's game against Maccabi Haifa.

On Saturday, Werder Bremen won 6-0 in Freiburg with five second-half goals to remain undefeated in 20 straight games in all competitions.

Hannover lost its first game after the suicide of captain and goalkeeper Robert Enke, going down 2-0 at Schalke. A minute's was held at all stadiums in memory of Enke, who threw himself in front of a train Nov. 10 after suffering from depression for years.

Defending champion Wolfsburg lost 3-2 at home to Nuremberg, Stuttgart rallied to rescue a 1-1 draw against bottom-place Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim jumped to fourth place by winning 4-0 in Cologne and Borussia Moenchengladbach also won on the road, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1. Mainz drew 0-0 at Borussia Dortmund.