Bayern struggle against Augsburg

Berlin: German giant Bayern Munich produced an average performance against bottom-placed Augsburg to win 2-1, while Schalke came from behind to tie 2-2 with Hannover in the Bundesliga.

League leaders Bayern opened the scoring against Augsburg through striker Mario Gomez, who headed home a corner 15 minutes into the match on Sunday.

French midfielder Franck Ribery doubled the lead in the 27th minute.

With the beginning of the second half, Bayern somewhat took a back seat and appeared to hand over control to Augsburg.

They paid the price for this when Augsburg's Hajime Hosogai pulled one back in the 59th minute to make it 2-1.

With the goal, a rejuvenated Augsburg sniffed a chance to pull level with Bayern but were denied by the Bavarian's young goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who staged a terrific save just before time to deny Augsburg any point.

Bayern midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshcuck was sent off in the dying seconds of the game after fouling Augsburg midfielder Daniel Baier to earn himself a straight red card.

The Bavarians continue to top the league standings on 28 points while Augsburg remain on 18th with just eight points.

Meanwhile, in another match, Schalke striker Teemu Pukki scored a brace in his first Bundesliga match allowing his side to share the spoils with Hannover.

The ‘Koeningsblauen' opened the scoring through Pukki in the 26th minute.

Own goal

However, only three minutes later, Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos levelled the score for Hannover when he deflected a free kick into his own goal.

After the interval, Hannover were able to take the 2-1 lead in the 59th minute when striker Mohammad Abdul Laoue headed home a cross inside the penalty area to shock the guests.

Pukki saved the day for Schalke, slotting home the equaliser in the 73rd minute.