Draw takes Leverkusen back into second

Max Kruse fires in a shot

Bayer Leverkusen regained second place in the Bundesliga, but failed to reduce the arrears on Bayern Munich to six points as they came away with just a point from Freiburg.

In an open, entertaining game at the Dreisamstadion, hosts Freiburg did justice to their own high league position by putting Leverkusen on the ropes several times.

Leverkusen also created chances with the only real surprise being the game finishing in a goalless draw, which gives Bayern the chance to extend their advantage at the top to 11 points when they face Stuttgart on Sunday.

Freiburg came into the match off the back of a five-game unbeaten run which had propelled them into the top six, so it was no surprise they did not appear daunted against a side nine points ahead of them in the table.

Jan Rosenthal, on his return to the Freiburg side after missing out against Mainz a week ago, was quick into the thick of the action, but he was not quite swift enough to beat Sebastian Boenisch to Daniel Caligiuri's dangerous throughball.

Rosenthal then rattled the bar with a powerful volley from just inside the penalty area in the 17th minute.

Leverkusen's response came from Stefan Kiessling and Daniel Carvajal, who both worked their way into dangerous positions before Freiburg defenders got in their way.

Philipp Wollscheid hit the woodwork at the other end with a header which took a deflection off Bayer captain Simon Rolfes before it struck the post in the 52nd minute.

Andre Schurrle was next to rattle the framework of the goal with a shot from distance, but Freiburg were no lambs to the slaughter and they had chances of their own with Bernd Leno doing his best to keep them out.

Both sides searched for a winner until the final whistle halted their efforts and rewarded them with a point each.

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