BERLIN (AFP) — Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld says his side need to ditch their "pretty football" and concentrate on picking up league points if they want to keep their top spot in the Bundesliga at Christmas.
Despite dominating both possession and territory, Bayern were held to a surprise 0-0 home draw by ten-man Duisburg on Saturday, but stayed top of the league after second-placed Werder Bremen stumbled to a 4-3 defeat at Hanover.
Bayern's star-studded attack could not break down the visitors' defence which has leaked 25 goals already this season.
Even though they had striker Mohammadou Idrissou sent off nine minutes from time, the draw moved Duisburg up to 16th in the league - third from bottom - and means Bayern now have a two-point lead at the top.
"We showed no passion, we wanted to win the game by playing pretty stuff," said Hitzfeld, whose side play Hertha Berlin on Saturday in their last game before the winter break.
"Naturally, I'm disappointed with the result, we wanted to win and make sure of first place over Christmas.
"We need to be more clinical in our finishing."
On Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen stayed in fourth place as they enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over Hansa Rostock.
Nuremberg lifted themselves out of the bottom three and into 14th with a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin.
Ten-man Bremen missed out on a golden chance to take over at the top on Saturday after losing a seven-goal thriller at Hanover, their first defeat since they were humbled 3-0 by Dortmund in September.
Hanover striker Mike Hanke sealed the win by completing his hat-trick and adding insult to injury in injury time, Bremen had striker Hugo Almeida dismissed in the third minute of time added on.
The win puts Hanover fifth, while Bremen are second and Hamburg stay third after their 0-0 draw at home with bottom side Energie Cottbus.
Defending champions VfB Stuttgart dominated VfL Wolfsburg at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium to claim a 3-1 win to go into eighth.
Schalke 04 drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt to drop back to seventh in the league.
There was a strange incident late in the game when Schalke substitute Carlos Grossmueller stormed off the bench, still in his tracksuit and bib, to argue with - and eventually push over - Frankfurt's Michael Thurk.
The referee showed the Schalke man an immediate red card.
Slovakian striker Stanislav Sestak was VfL Bochum's hero as he scored twice to seal their 2-2 draw at home to Karlsruhe.
On Friday, Borussia Dortmund registered their first home six-goal win for six years when they crushed hapless Arminia Bielefeld 6-1 to continue their recent resurgence.
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