Bayer Leverkusen missed the chance to move clear at the top of the Bundesliga as they were held to a draw by Werder Bremen.

Stefan Kiessling was seeking to set a new league record of scoring in each of the first six Bundesliga matches, but he was denied that achievement by the offside flag early in the second half of a tight game.

Bremen's best chances all came in the first half as they extended their unbeaten run to five games with their third draw of the season.

With Kiessling having scored in each of the first five games and Bremen's Claudio Pizarro making a goalscoring return to the Bundesliga after his transfer from Chelsea, a 0-0 draw was the last thing the fans inside the BayArena would have expected.

But that is what they got on a day when the defences prevailed over the attacks.

The closest Kiessling came to setting the new goalscoring record was two minutes into the second half when he put the ball into the back of the net, albeit from a blatantly offside position.

Marko Marin was Bremen's most liveliest player, forcing Rene Adler into two fine saves early on.

His first shot in the 13th minute, after being found by Pizarro, was pushed wide by the Germany international goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, the Bremen winger left Sami Hyypia for dead with a neat flick before losing his composure for the shot which Adler got his fingertips to as it sailed wide.

The best chance of the second half fell to Arturo Vidal eight minutes from time, but his half-hearted attempted lob over Tim Wiese was easy pickings for the Bremen goalkeeper.