Frustrating draw for Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke

Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke settled for a 1-1 draw on Sunday which would have left neither of the two sides happy in their pursuit of the top four in the Bundesliga.Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gave the visitors the lead against the run of play and it took Leverkusen until five minutes from time to forge an equaliser.The draw leaves Leverkusen in sixth place with Schalke two places below them, with Hamburg sandwiched in between and all three teams plus Cologne separated only by goal difference.After a period of sizing each other up, Leverkusen launched the first attacks after half an hour and Karim Bellarabi went close to giving them the lead with a shot from a tight angle which struck the crossbar.Both Bellarabi and Javier Hernandez had further opportunities but Schalke ensured they were always forced wide rather than central and the angles were too tight to test Ralf Fahrmann seriously.Schalke gained the lead with practically their first serious attack of the game, five minutes into the second half.Leon Goretzka sent a pass through for Choupo-Moting, who held off the challenge of Giulio Donati before finishing.The goal stung the Werkself, who went in search of a reply but in the process left more room for Schalke to seek a second.With the game opening up, the chances started to arrive at both ends. Choupo-Moting wasted Schalke's best opportunity to put the game to bed with 10 minutes left, and it proved to be a costly miss too as Leverkusen levelled with five minutes to go.Hernandez's low cross was diverted by Fahrmann onto the head of Riether, who could do nothing to prevent the ball from rebounding into his own goal.It was enough to earn Leverkusen a deserved draw, but not enough to take them any higher than the sixth position they occupied coming into the weekend, with Schalke slipping to eighth.