Increasingly weary Bayern Munich defended stoutly to achieve a goalless draw in an away clash with Dortmund on Sunday, while a 1-0 narrow win is enough for Hamburg HSV to down the gap with Bayern by four points.

 

Despite widespread fatigue after a faraway trip to Serbia three days ago, Bayern tried to survive a second-half Dortmund onslaught as Sunday's Bundesliga encounter ended in 0-0 stalemate.

 

The massive 80,708 full house at Signal Iduna Park saw a largely scrappy first half with few chances at either end.

 

Bayern came closest to opening the scoring when Martin Demichelis crashed a 30-yard drive off the crossbar and powerful forward Miroslav Klose whacked the rebound against the post in the 36th minute.

 

However, Bayern's pre-match fears of possible fatigue following Thursday's battle in Belgrade seemed to be borne out as the league leaders lived dangerously for a spell in the second half.

 

But wasteful Borussia squandered a string of presentable openings, and the match ended with the men in Red closer to breaking the deadlock than the eager but ultimately limited home team.

 

The draw leaves still undefeated Bayern top of the standings on 27 points from 11 matches, but the Bavarians' lead is down to four points from new second-placed club Hamburg, 1-0 winners against lowly Duisburg.

 

In Duisburg, a goal by Belgian international Vincent Kompany in the 37 minute gave Hamburg HSV a slender but thoroughly deserved victory.

 

After beating Brann Bergen away in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, it was two wins in four days for coach Huub Stevens and his team.

 

The win sees HSV overtake old rivals Werder Bremen and move into second place, four points behind leaders Bayern.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2007)