Hamburg stop rot as Mueller rescues point against Cologne

After defeats to Augsburg, Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart, Hamburg stopped the rot as striker Nicolai Mueller's second-half equaliser cancelled out winger Simon Zoller's goal just before the break.

Despite the point, Hamburg drop to 12th while Cologne are ninth.

Second-from-bottom Hoffenheim are now seven points from safety after losing 2-0 at home to mid-table Darmstadt as defenders Aytac Sulu and Slobodan Rajkovic scored.

Darmstadt shoot from 15th up to 11th while Huub Steven's Hoffenheim will be hunting only their third victory of the season at Werder Bremen next weekend in a battle between two teams in the bottom three.

On Saturday, league leaders Bayern stayed eight points clear despite their goalless draw at Bayer Leverkusen, but Pep Guardiola's Bavarians finished with ten men after Xabi Alonso was sent off.

The Spain midfielder saw red after earning two second-half bookings in quick succession at the BayArena to cap a turbulent week for the Bundesliga leaders.

On Wednesday, Bayern denied allegations midfielder Arturo Vidal was repeatedly drunk at last month's training camp in Doha.

Both the club and player say they will sue magazine Sport Bild over the claim.   

Vidal started against Leverkusen with Germany forward Thomas Mueller left on the bench as Guardiola played a back three after injuries left him with only one fit centre-back in Holger Badstuber.

Despite having scored 19 goals in as many league games this season, Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski failed to convert either of his two shots at goal.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Bundesliga's top-scorer, also failed to score in Borussia Dortmund's uninspiring goalless draw at Hertha Berlin, with Jose Mourinho watching.

Aubameyang, who has netted 20 league goals, had a rare off day in Berlin, managing just 11 touches in his 71 minutes and failed to produce a single shot on goal.

The Gabon forward -- Africa's player of the year -- was eventually hauled off by Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel and left to scowl on the bench.

It was only the sixth time this season 'Auba' has failed to score in one of Dortmund's league games.

The game failed to deliver as second-placed Dortmund remained ten points clear of third-placed Hertha.

Wolfsburg crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Schalke to remain winless in their last five games ahead of their Champions League last 16, first-leg clash at Ghent.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Johannes Geis put Schalke 2-0 up before new-signing Alessandro Schoepf netted his side's late third.

The result pushed the Royal Blues up to fourth as Wolfsburg drop to eighth.

Stuttgart are now up to 11th with their fourth straight league win in a bad-tempered 4-2 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in which both sides finished with ten men.

Hanover remain rooted to the bottom of the table after their 1-0 defeat at home to Mainz as Spanish midfielder Jairo scored the first-half winner, while mid-table Ingolstadt won the Bavaria derby with a 2-1 success at home to Augsburg.

On Friday, Borussia Moenchengladbach thrashed strugglers Werder Bremen 5-1 as teenage Danish defender Andreas Christensen, on loan from Chelsea, netted twice.