Defending champions Bayern Munich lost ground on Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund as they were pegged back to a 1-1 draw by Wolfsburg.

Thomas Muller put the Bavarians in front in the seventh minute and Philipp Lahm missed a penalty for Louis van Gaal's side, who appeared to be in control of the game. However, they lost Franck Ribery to injury and saw Sascha Riether level matters just four minutes from the end after Grafite had also missed a penalty for the home side on the stroke of half-time.

Both sides also had goals disallowed as Bayern fell 16 points behind Dortmund, who won yesterday, and Wolfsburg coach Steve McClaren was able to breathe a sigh of relief as his side avoided yet another home defeat in their first game since the departure of star striker Edin Dzeko.

Mario Gomez's shot against the crossbar in the fifth minute was a sign of things to come at the VW-Arena. Bayern went ahead in unusual circumstances two minutes later as Diego Benaglio raced off his line to clear Bayern debutant goalkeeper Thomas Kraft's long punt forward from the other end, but the Swiss goalkeeper's clearance from outside his own area cannoned back off Muller and into the empty goal.

Mark van Bommel missed a glorious chance to make it two as his shot was blocked by Arne Friedrich in the 19th minute and Muller's header from the subsequent corner was tipped over the crossbar by Benaglio. Bayern were awarded a penalty in the 21st minute when Ashkan Dejagah was adjudged to have fouled Danijel Pranjic as he turned inside him in the penalty area, but Philipp Lahm struck the spot-kick against the left-hand post.

Ribery limped off the field to be replaced by Arjen Robben and the home side suddenly found a reaction. Dejagah tried to make up for his foul on Pranjic, but he headed against the crossbar, and a Diego free-kick goal was ruled out for an offside decision against Cicero, who was seen to have been interfering with play.

The hosts then had the chance to level from the penalty spot when Dejagah was fouled by Holger Badstuber, but Kraft was not to be beaten on his Bundesliga debut and he denied Grafite from the spot. The second half was equally exciting with chances at both ends, but no further goals until it seemed like the game was all over, but it wasn't.

Bastian Schweinsteiger tried to shepherd the ball out for a goalkick, but he was robbed of possession by Marcel Schafer, who crossed the ball low into the penalty area to Riether, who made no mistake from three yards out to level in the 86th minute. Bayern still thought they had won when Muller scored in stoppage time, but he was just an inch offside when Robben took his shot, which fell to the Bayern striker on the rebound, and the goal was ruled out.