BERLIN: England midfielder Owen Hargreaves saved Bayern Munich from an embarrassing defeat with a superb last-gasp free kick for a 3-3 draw at Hanover 96 on Saturday.

Hargreaves struck one minute into added time to grab a share of the points for the German champions in an entertaining game.

Borussia Dortmund, who lost their title to Bayern last season, finishing third, moved to the top of the standings with a spectacular 4-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg.

Dortmund were one of six teams with four points from two games, with Hanover and Bayern also in that group.

The 72,000 fans packing Dortmund's stadium witnessed a fine display from Czech playmaker Tomas Rosicky, who scored a goal in each half.

Strikers Marcio Amoroso and Jan Koller also contributed to a victory that lifted Dortmund to the top of the standings.

Bayern, who opened the defence of the title with a 3-1 win over promoted Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, fought bravely to make up for a clumsy defensive display in the first half.

"It was an exciting game with some quality football despite tough conditions," said Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, referring to the heatwave sweeping most of Europe.

"We showed two different sides," he added. "In the first half we were nervous at the back but I really liked the way we played after the break. Overall it's a fair result."

Pizarro disallowed

Hanover, who opened with a surprise 3-0 win at Hamburg SV, built a 3-1 lead at the interval courtesy of midfielder Nebojsa Krupnikovc and strikers Jiri Stajner and Thomas Christiansen.

Playmaker Michael Ballack scored before the break for Bayern, who stepped up a gear in the second half.

Peru striker Claudio Pizarro then reduced the gap on 49 minutes and hit the back of the net again in the 68th but was disallowed for an offside that looked dubious on television replays.

The home side were reduced to 10 men when striker Mohammadou Idrissou was sent off in the 84th minute for elbowing Bayern defender Thomas Linke before Hargreaves grabbed a point for the visitors with just his second goal from 70 Bundesliga games.

Dutch striker Roy Makaay, who completed his switch to Bayern from Deportivo Coruna on Friday, was unavailable but should play next week, however the most worrying aspect of the German champion's play seemed to be their defence.

Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky was instrumental in Dortmund's win over Wolfsburg with a goal in each half and fine playmaking. Brazilian forward Marcio Amoroso and Czech striker Jan Koller also scored before 72,000 delighted fans.

Kaiserslautern, who had three points deducted for breaching licensing rules, won 2-1 against Cologne despite having goalkeeper Tim Wiese sent off for an ugly foul outside the box in the 65th minute.

Striker Marius Ebbers gave the home side the lead in the 38th minute but Germany striker Miroslav Klose levelled a minute later.

Wiese then saved a penalty from midfielder Dirk Lottner in the 56th minute before being sent off. Greek midfielder Dimitrios Grammozis hit the winner in the 75th minute.

Schalke, who have a prominent new coach in Jupp Heynckes and high aspirations, have now drawn their first two games, after tying 1860 Munich on Saturday.

TSV 1860 started well, opening the scoring with a header from striker Markus Schroth in the 19th minute, but then handed Schalke a share of the points with a defensive blunder that gave Uruguay defender Dario Rodriguez the equalizer in the 56th minute.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 08/11/2003 page8)