Bayer Leverkusen kept pace with Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund on Saturday with a hard-fought 1-0 win at St. Pauli to leapfrog struggling Mainz into second place.
"The victory was a bit lucky if you only look at the second half," Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes said. "But in the first half the win was well-deserved. We missed a chance to grab the lead early on and it was tougher than it should have been."
Mainz lost 1-0 at home against 10-man Hannover to remain on 24 points but fall to third behind Leverkusen on goals scored. Fourth-place Eintracht Frankfurt also lost ground after being held to a 0-0 draw by Werder Bremen. Frankfurt remained on 20 points in fourth after extending its undefeated streak to seven games.
"We are definitely happy to have taken a point from Bremen, which is always tough," Frankfurt coach Michael Skibbe said. "But we just did not play good enough today to win."
Also Saturday, 10-man Wolfsburg wasted a two-goal lead to settle for a 2-2 draw at home against Schalke. Borussia Moenchengladbach climbed out of last place with a 4-0 victory at new bottom-dweller Cologne, while Kaiserslautern rallied from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Stuttgart.
Hannover took the lead in the 44th through Sergio Pinto's hard left-footed shot from more than 30 yards (meters). Hannover had lost four of its last five games but improved to fifth place with 19 points.
Mainz watched Hannover keeper Florian Fromlowitz come up with a superb save on Andreas Ivanschitz's free kick in the 56th, and Haruna Babangida headed wide right in the 70th minute. Hannover's United States defender Steven Cherundolo was sent off in the 68th for his second booking.
Mainz has lost five of the last six games, scoring just one goal in that span. Grafite and Edin Dzeko scored for Wolfsburg to make it 2-0 after 33 minutes, but Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar tied the game in the 76th minute despite handling the ball, before Wolfsburg's Ashkan Dejagah was shown a red card in the 78th.
Wolfsburg is 12th with 14 points while Schalke failed to leave the relegation zone with just 10 points for 16th place.
"We woke up too late. It seems that we have to allow two goals before things become clear for us," Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said.
Raul Bobadilla scored the first and last goals for Gladbach, with United States international Michael Bradley and Igor de Camargo netting in-between despite a drenched pitch in Cologne.
"It's been a while since we won," Gladbach defender Tobias Levels said. "But to win here in Cologne under these conditions is amazing."
Dortmund beat Hamburg 2-0 on Friday. Defending champion Bayern Munich hosts Nuremberg on Sunday.
