Hoffenheim edge into fourth after Wagner goal
ByReuters
Published 18/03/2017 at 19:59 GMT
Werder Bremen's Austrian trio scored all three goals as the hosts stunned second-placed RB Leipzig 3-0 on Saturday to continue their revival with a fourth win in five matches.
Sandro Wagner
Image credit: AFP
Zlatko Junuzovic was on target in the 34th minute and set up fellow countryman Florian Grillitsch with a well-planned free kick move just before the hour.
Substitute Florian Kainz netted the third goal two minutes after coming on in the 88th minute as the former German champions moved up to 13th place, three points clear of the relegation playoff spot.
It was another miserable afternoon for promoted Leipzig, who had taken the Bundesliga by storm earlier this season but have now managed just two wins in seven games.
They remain second on 49 points, with leaders Bayern Munich, 10 points clear, facing Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
"We seem to be a bit unlucky at the moment," Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuettl told reporters.
"What is important now is to use the break for international matches to fill up on power for the difficult work ahead of us."
Third-placed Dortmund closed to within three points of Leipzig after their lacklustre 1-0 win over Ingolstadt on Friday.
Leipzig's Emil Forsberg should have done better in the 26th but his low drive sailed narrowly wide of Felix Wiedwald's goal.
Junuzovic did not miss when he picked up a lose ball 25 metres out and thumped an unstoppable left-footed shot past helpless keeper Peter Gulacsi.
Marcel Sabitzer rattled the post but it was the hosts who scored again when Junuzovic found Grillitsch with a clever low free kick before Kainz made sure of the three points.
Forward Sandro Wagner ended his 519-minute goal drought to help Hoffenheim edge past Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 and move a point behind Dortmund in fourth.
Anthony Modeste scored his second hat-trick of the season to help Cologne beat Hertha Berlin 4-2 and move up to sixth, with the Frenchman now on 22 goals, one behind leading scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund.
Striker Mario Gomez was on target again in VfL Wolfsburg's 1-0 win over last-placed Darmstadt, scoring in the club's third straight game under new coach Andries Jonker.
Gomez has now netted in eight consecutive matches he has played under Jonker, five of them when the Dutchman was interim coach at Bayern Munich at the end of the 2010/11 season.
The win lifted the Wolves into 15th, two points ahead of Hamburg SV who drew 0-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Clare Fallon and Ed Osmond)
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