BERLIN (AFP) - Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto scored a second-half equaliser as ten-man Bayern Munich came from behind to draw 1-1 with Hamburg on Sunday and open a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

With second-placed Werder Bremen losing in Frankfurt the day before, Bayern's draw at their Allianz Arena gives them 44 points and puts some space between themselves and the chasing pack.

Bayern fell behind on the hour when Brazilian defender Lucio lost possession on the edge of the penalty area and Czech midfielder David Jarolim fed striker Ivica Olic to fire home his tenth league goal of the season.

The home side levelled when French star Franck Ribery, back after a three week absence with a hamstring injury, slid a pass to Ze Roberto to score on 66 minutes.

"It was frustrating to concede a goal through one of our mistakes, it was a gift for them," said Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

"We had our opportunities to score, but we wasted them, so in the end we have to be happy with the draw."

There was drama in the game's dying stages when Bayern's Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel was shown a red card for making an obscene gesture at the referee after being shown a yellow card seconds before for time wasting.

Bayern's title rivals Bremen stumbled on Saturday when midfielder Diego was sent off, in scenes reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane's chest-butt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, as his side lost 1-0.

After several heavy challenges from the Frankfurt defence, Diego's patience ran out and he launched his shoulder into defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos to earn himself a straight red card on 40 minutes.

Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis scored the winner for Frankfurt 16 minutes later.

"I am constantly given a lot of attention by defences in games," said the Brazilian, who could be suspended for up to four weeks by the league's disciplinary committee.

"I should be used to it by now, but I lost my head when he said to me 'F*** you!' and I shouldn't have done it."

Two of the Bundesliga's struggling sides, VfB Stuttgart and Duisburg, both boosted their flagging league positions with wins.

Defending champions VfB Stuttgart picked up their second consecutive win with a 3-1 victory at home to Karlsruhe.

But Stuttgart's goal scorer Mario Gomez faces an inquiry by the German Football Federation (DFB) after he called Karlsruhe defender Maik Franz an "arsehole" in a live television interview after the pair clashed several times during the game.

Duisburg lifted themselves off the bottom with a 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld while ten-man Schalke were humbled 1-0 by Bayer Leverkusen after a spectacular long-range goal from Germany defender Manuel Friedrich on 85 minutes.

In the day's other match, VfL Wolfsburg were held to a 0-0 draw by Hertha Berlin.

On Friday, strugglers VfL Bochum picked up only their seventh win of the season when they beat Hanover 2-1.

On Sunday, relegation candidates Nuremberg and Energie Cottbus drew 1-1.