By DPA
Hamburg : A late goal by Kevin Davies earned Bolton Wanderers a 2-2 draw at German league leaders Bayern Munich while Premiership sides Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both bagged away victories in UEFA Cup football.
It was a less positive Thursday night for German clubs, with Bayern being held and both Nuremberg and Bayer Leverkusen losing.
It followed another poor Champions League showing by the Bundesliga contingent, with defeats for Stuttgart and Werder Bremen and a draw for Schalke in matches Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bayern had come from behind with two goals from Lukas Podolski and appeared on the way to a comfortable Group F victory over Bolton.
But the Bundesliga side were punished for failing to take their chances when Davies struck with eight minutes remaining to earn the English side their second consecutive draw in the group.
Podolski earned his chance after coach Ottmar Hitzfeld rested Italian striker Luca Toni, and staked his claim to a first-team place with goals in each half.
After Bolton had taken an eighth minute lead through Ricardo Gardner, Podolski struck on the half hour with a crisp left-foot shot to round off a move involving Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
It was Podolski’s first goal for Bayern in eight months. He then struck a second from close range four minutes after the break with Ribery again involved.
The Germany striker left the field in the 58th minute to make way for Toni but the Italy striker was unable to make his mark.
The result leaves Bayern on four points at the top of the group after two matches. Greek side Aris move second on three points after a 3-0 drubbing of Red Star Belgrade.
“Of course, I am disappointed with the result but not with our game,” said Hitzfeld.
“In the second half we had the game under control. We were too careless and I am really annoyed about that. However we have four points. I don’t think there will be any problems in qualifying.”
Everton moved to the top of Group A thanks to a 2-0 win at Germany’s Nuremberg.
Mikel Arteta put the English side ahead from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after a foul on Victor Anichebe, and Anichebe made it 2-0 four minutes later after he burst clear down the right.
Zenit St. Petersburg enjoyed a 3-2 win at Greek side Larisa, with Pavel Pogrebnyak, Konstantin Zyrianov and Fatih Tekke on target, to move to four points in the group.
Two second-half penalties proved decisive for Spartak Moscow in a 2-1 Group E defeat of Leverkusen on the artificial surface of the Luzhniki Stadium.
Roman Pavlyuchenko converted the first in the 63rd minute after a foul by Stefan Kiessling on Dmitriy Torbinsky.
Fifteen minutes later Spartak were awarded another penalty when goalkeeper Rene Adler brought down Maksim Kalinichenko after a well-worked move, and Brazilian midfielder Mozart converted from the spot.
Paul Freier managed to notch a consolation for the visitors in stoppage time.
In Group G, Tottenham Hotspur got their UEFA Cup campaign back on track with a comfortable 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.
A Robbie Keane volley and a Dimitar Berbatov header gave Spurs the points they were looking for after a 2-1 defeat to Getafe in their opening game.
In the same group, Aalborg and Anderlecht finished 1-1 for Anderlecht to move a point clear at the top of the group.
In Group C, Spain’s Villareal earned a 2-1 win at Slovenian side Mlada Boleslav thanks to goals in each half from Hihat and Santi Cazorla.
Italy’s Fiorentina go top of the group, level on four points with Villareal but with a better goal difference after running out 6-1 winners over Sweden’s Elfsborg.
Turkish side Galatasaray slipped to a second successive defeat in Group H, going down 3-2 at home to Swedish champions Helsingborgs.
Shabani Nonda scored both for Galatasaray (45th and 90th minutes) but goals from Henrik Larsson (penalty, 30th), Razak Omotoyossi (39th) and Christoffer Andersson (75th) were enough for the visitors.
Girondins Bordeaux picked up a second successive victory with a 2-1 win at Austria Vienna, with Brazilian Wendel bagging the winner from the penalty spot in the 88th minute after Marouane Chamakh had equalised an early goal from Sanel Kuljic.
In Group B, visiting Greek side Panathinaikos defeated FC Copenhagen 1-0 thanks to a Dame N’Doye goal in the 15th minute to collect a second successive victory.
Panathinaikos are clear on six points, with Lokomotiv Moscow second on two points after a 1-1 draw at Scottish side Aberdeen.
Swiss side Basel moved top of Group D, thanks to a goalless draw at Dinamo Zagreb, while Stade Rennes and Brann Bergen finished 1-1. The results favoured Germany’s SV Hamburg who were without a game.