Bayern go top after Dortmund suffer first defeat

Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday as rivals Borussia Dortmund slumped to their first defeat of the season with a 2-0 reverse at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The Bavarians, who were last beaten in the league by Leverkusen last year, have now gone 33 league games without defeat -- three shy of the record.

Champions Bayern, who were the better team throughout and missed half a dozen clear scoring chances, have 20 points from eight matches, one ahead of Dortmund and third-placed Leverkusen.

"I really do not know what to say, we tried everything to win," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola told reporters. "But we took over top spot and I can only be satisfied with my players' performance -- we played really well."

Guardiola's team took a deserved 30th-minute lead when Franck Ribery shook off Omer Toprak to find Toni Kroos in the box and he had no problem drilling the ball in.

Leverkusen struck back almost immediately as the unmarked Sidney Sam tapped home at the far post.

Ribery twice went close early in the second half but keeper Bernd Leno saved the Frenchman's powerful drives.

Bayern kept up the pressure and Xherdan Shaqiri should have done better on the hour when he was left unmarked on the right and curled his shot over the bar.

Arjen Robben tried his luck with a free kick but again Leno was there to rescue Leverkusen who are enjoying their best ever start in the league.

Leno also denied substitute Mario Goetze who was making his comeback after injury.

"It's a shame because normally we would have won the game," said Ribery. "We had so many chances but we got top spot, got a point so we are satisfied and can have a party tomorrow at the Oktoberfest (beer festival)."

Dortmund let in two late goals after dominating Gladbach.

Germany international Max Kruse calmly converted a penalty in the 81st minute after Dortmund defender Mats Hummels was sent off and Raffael added another goal with four minutes left.

"We had enough situations to decide the game for us and we did not do it," said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp. "We have to live with that.

"As long as the opponent is not beaten they have a chance and we did not knock them down. We hit them, they swayed but we did not deliver the crucial punch and then we conceded two goals."

Dortmund, who had Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender injured ahead of the international break next week, wasted a bagful of chances and twice hit the woodwork.

The hosts went ahead after Hummels brought down Havard Nordtveid and it was another quick break that led to the second goal.

Champions League combatants Schalke 04 came from a goal down to crush 10-man Augsburg 4-1, Adam Szalai scoring twice to lift his team to eighth place on 11 points.

Promoted Eintracht Braunschweig secured their first Bundesliga victory in 28 years, winning 2-0 at VfL Wolfsburg to move off the bottom for the first time this season.

Image: Simon Rolfes (left) of Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben head the ball

Photograph: Ralph Orlowski/Reuters