Podolski goal saves Bayern's blushes

30 Mar, 2008

Super sub Lukas Podolski capped a superb personal week for the Germany striker to save Bayern Munich's blushes with a late equaliser at strugglers Nuremberg on a crazy day as none of the top five Bundesliga sides won.
The 22-year-old scored after coming off the bench in Germany's 4-0 Euro 2008 warm-up win against Switzerland on Wednesday and then hit Bayern's equaliser in the 81st minute in the 1-1 draw having come on as a substitute.
Bayern captain Oliver Kahn played his 552nd Bundesliga game to claim joint third in the table for the most German league appearances, but for all his experience he was well beaten when Nuremburg took the lead.
A spectacular shot from Bosnia midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic just before half-time flew into the top corner from 20 metres out and put the home side ahead before Podolski saved the day to keep Bayern seven points clear.
It was a crazy day of results with none of the top five teams taking three points. The biggest shock came at Werder Bremen when the home side were humbled 2-1 by relegation-candidates Duisburg who moved out of the bottom three following their win.
Bremen have now dropped to fifth with defeats at Wolfsburg and their 6-3 hammering at defending champions VfB Stuttgart and they have failed to pick up a win in their last four games. The home side hit back when Brazilian midfielder Diego scored his 12th goal of the season early in the second-half, but it was not enough. Schalke 04 - who play Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday - were held 0-0 at Karlsruhe and the valuable point moves them into third.
Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 2-0 when Germany striker Stefan Kiessling scored an own goal to give Eintracht Frankfurt three points before guests added a late second. And things got very strange at second-placed Hamburg as they drew 1-1 with Arminia Bielefeld.

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