Mirko Slomka's men travelled to the defending champions with a three-point advantage at the top of the table, but goals in either half from Roy Makaay and Hasan Salihamidzic ensured the point stayed in Munich, where England midfielder Owen Hargreaves was absent with a thigh strain.

Schalke's lead now stands at two points, although Werder Bremen will be ruing a chance missed after being held to a goalless draw at Energie Cottbus.

Both results allowed third-placed Stuttgart to reduce the deficit on the top two following their 3-1 win over Alemannia Aachen.

Stuttgart are now just four points behind leaders Schalke and two behind Werder, while maintaining their two-point cushion over Bayern in a close battle at the top.

At the other end, a last-minute strike from Federico Insua earned Borussia Monchengladbach a welcome point against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Insua cancelled out Sotirios Kyrgiakos' early goal, with the Greek defender later sent off for Eintracht, although the draw was not enough to lift Gladbach off the bottom and Jos Luhukay's side are still four points from safety.

Mainz did little to ease their relegation worries either with a 3-1 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, for whom Sergej Barbarez (two) and Bernd Schneider scored.

In today's other match, goals from Tomas Galasek and Marco Engelhardt earned UEFA Cup-chasing Nurnberg a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin.

Last night, Jonas Kamper's strike sealed a 1-0 result for Arminia Bielefeld in their relegation battle with Borussia Dortmund.