Bundesliga: Leverkusen lose pace after draw

Bayer Leverkusen failed to close in on the leading positions in the Bundesliga when they were held 1-1 at home by lowly VfL Bochum.

Leverkusen, without a win for a third week in a row, dropped to seventh on 37 points, five behind joint second Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim and VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburg SV. Hertha Berlin are top on 46 points following their 3-1 win at Energie Cottbus on Saturday.

Fresh from their 4-2 win against Bayern to qualify for the German Cup semi-finals in mid-week, Leverkusen fell behind when Bochum captain Christoph Dabrowski headed home a Christian Fuchs free kick in the 32nd minute against the run of play.

The hosts levelled in the 66th minute with a well-taken Patrick Helmes penalty, awarded for handball by Mergim Mavraj who was sent off with a second yellow card.

Leverkusen could have taken all the points against 10-man Bochum if Henrique had put his close-range header on target 11 minutes from time or tapped in from a metre four minutes later.