Neuer breaks 1,000-minute mark, but Bayern held

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer went over 1,000 minutes without conceding a goal during Saturday's goalless draw at Hoffenheim as the Bavarians had their 10-match winning streak ended. Bayern's 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday had been their 10th consecutive victory and although the run was broken at Hoffenheim, Munich's last defeat in any competition was still back on August 7. Germany star Neuer, who joined from Schalke 04 last summer, has now gone 1,018 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions. The 25-year-old had to work to keep his record intact as he pulled off a stunning save from defender Marvin Compper on 22 minutes. "Hoffenheim had us under pressure, perhaps we weren't so fresh because of our Champions League game in midweek," said Neuer. "But it was important for us to take a point." Belgian goalkeeper Dany Verlinden holds the European clean sheet record of 1,390 minutes for Brugge, a mark which Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar came close to breaking when he went 1,311 minutes without conceding a goal in the 2008-09 season. Munich coach Jupp Heynckes admitted his team were tired and had several injury problems. "After 20 minutes, Hoffenheim took command of the game and you could see we were tired," said Heynckes. "We had big problems before the game: Rafina dropped out, Franck Ribery played with a calf injury and we had a long delay to our flight here." Bayern's best chance came in the first half when Hoffenheim's Ghana defender Isaac Vorsah cleared a shot off the line from Munich's Jerome Boateng. Bayern remain three points clear at the top of the league and with a vastly superior goal difference they cannot be caught this weekend even if second-placed Werder Bremen win at Hanover on Sunday. Moenchengladbach, the only team to beat Bayern this season, suffered their first defeat in four games when they went down 1-0 at Freiburg to stay third. Ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack captained Leverkusen to a 3-1 win at home to Wolfsburg having scored in his team's Champions League win over Belgium champions Genk on Wednesday and played the full 90 minutes. Dortmund bounced back from their heavy Champions League defeat at Marseille to enjoy an impressive 4-0 win at home to Augsburg as Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, with a hat-trick, and Germany midfielder Mario Goetze ran riot. "We already had a few chances in the first half an hour, but we were just missing the last little bit," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp after his side picked up only their fourth win in their 10 games this season. "The bottom line is that we have had some spectacular games in this stadium, but we deserved the win. I can't say anything negative about the win." Lewandowski hit two first half goals, before goalkeeper and captain Roman Wiedenfeller maintained his side's lead when he dived the right way to halt a penalty on 48 minutes from defender Gibril Sankoh. Goetze made sure of the three points when he darted onto a chip from Lewandowski and the 19-year-old returned the compliment when he fired in his cross which the Polish forward headed home to complete his hat-trick. The three points has done wonders for Dortmund's league position and lifted them up to fourth. Mainz came back from 2-0 down to seal a 3-3 draw at Nuremberg. Hanover host Bremen on Sunday and Schalke new coach Huub Stevens, who was appointed on Wednesday, will be in charge for the Royal Blues game at Hamburg. Stevens, who is on his second stint in Gelsenkirchen, was in talks to take over at struggling Hamburg only last weekend.