Hamburg picked up their first win since early February, and their first goals in seven games, to move off the foot of the Bundesliga by beating Augsburg 3-2.
Ivica Olic ended their club record goal drought to put them in front before Pierre-Michel Lasogga added a second goal. Raul Bobadilla and Tobias Werner brought Augsburg back into the game, but Lasogga had the final say with a spectacular winner, lifting Bruno Labbadia's men off the bottom and denting Augsburg's hopes of playing in Europe next season.
Hamburg clearly meant business in Labbadia's first home game in charge, creating several early openings before taking the lead in the 11th minute. Heiko Westermann's cross was struck towards goal by Zoltan Stieber, with Olic getting a telling deflection to turn the ball in and end Hamburg's six-game wait for a goal.
Lasogga went close to a second with a free-kick which Marwin Hitz did well to turn behind, but a second goal was not long in coming. Lasogga got it, heading in Matthias Ostrzolek's cross from six yards out without a marker in sight. Augsburg's response was almost immediate with the celebrations of the Hamburg fans cut short when Bobadilla's diving header from Werner's cross reduced the arrears with only 25 minutes on the clock.
Nerves started to creep back into Hamburg's game and Augsburg went straight for the jugular, levelling in the second half after pegging their hosts back for a prolonged period. Werner was the scorer this time, taking Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's pass in his stride before beating Rene Adler. Rather than pushing for a winner, Augsburg sat back as they had done at the start of the game, and they paid the price in the 71st minute when Lasogga drilled an unstoppable shot from an angle into the roof of the net for Hamburg's winner.
Borussia Dortmund closed in on the Bundesliga top six and a place in Europe next season thanks to a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Westfalenstadion.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Jurgen Klopp's men the lead from the penalty spot before Shinji Kagawa added a second goal. It was enough to earn Dortmund all three points and take them to within a win of the European positions, setting them up also for their DFB-Pokal semi-final tie with Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Frankfurt made the better start and Sonny Kittel had the ball in the back of the net after seven minutes, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Dortmund wasted their first chance of the game 10 minutes later when Aubameyang headed a cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski over the crossbar, but he had an easier opportunity to open the scoring soon after when Kittel handled inside the area and a penalty was given. He waited until Kevin Trapp had already decided which way to go before chipping the ball straight down the middle and giving Dortmund the lead.
He turned provider for the Westphalians' second goal after half an hour, using his pace to good effect before crossing for Kagawa to score for a second week running, from close range. The game was effectively over for Frankfurt and it soon became a case of damage limitation as Dortmund continued to attack.
Aubameyang will wonder how he managed only one goal while there was a chance for Marco Reus to mark his return from injury with a goal also. In the last minute, Ciro Immobile hit the post as Dortmund went close once again to a third. While they secured all three points all the same, Dortmund will head to Munich in midweek knowing they cannot afford to be so wasteful with their chances if they want to reach the cup final in Berlin.
Freiburg fought back from two goals down to snatch a point at 10-man Stuttgart in a dramatic Baden-Wurttemberg derby.
Daniel Ginczek and Martin Harnik put Stuttgart in command in a dominant first half from the hosts, but it was a different story in the second half. Nils Petersen scored either side of a red card for Adem Hlousek as Freiburg maintained their three-point advantage over their local rivals at the foot of the table with a 2-2 draw.
Michael Frontzeck's debut as Hannover coach ended in defeat as his side went down 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Anthony Modeste gave the visitors the lead within a minute but Lars Stindl levelled from the spot and it looked like Hannover might well go on to get their first win of 2015. They did not manage to take their chances, though, and Sven Schipplock struck with seven minutes to go to earn Hoffenheim all three points and keep them well in the battle for a place in Europe next season, leaving Hannover teetering on the brink of the relegation zone.
Cologne left it late to grab a point at home to Bayer Leverkusen and dent their local rivals' Champions League direct qualification hopes in a 1-1 Rhineland derby draw.
Bard Finne cancelled out Julian Brandt's effort to earn the Goats a deserved draw which takes them a point closer to survival. Seven points now separate Peter Stoger's men from the relegation zone with four games remaining, while Leverkusen could lose third place to Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday.
