Nurnberg, Germany – A second-half goal from Arjen Robben was enough for Bayern Munich to secure a 1-0 win at Nurnberg on Saturday that moves the club to within three points of leaders Borussia Dortmund.
After a 4-4 draw between Dortmund and Stuttgart on Friday, Bayern entered Saturday's match knowing a win would close the gap and increase the pressure on the defending champions.
Bayern was not at its best in the match but was able to muster up the necessary goal in the 69th minute when a powerful shot from Franck Ribery was stopped by goalkeeper Raphael Schafer, only for Robben to swoop in and score on the rebound.
The visitors tried to seal the win but a header from Mario Gomez struck the crossbar, while Nurnberg was denied the equalizer when Almog Cohen's shot was pushed onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The win is Bayern's fourth straight in the Bundesliga while Nurnberg has dropped its last four matches to sit three points above the drop zone.
Augsburg 2, Cologne 1
Augsburg, Germany - Augsburg climbed out of the bottom three on Saturday after a 2-1 win over Cologne moved the club two points clear of the relegation places.
Koo Ja-Cheol's goal after 19 minutes was canceled out by a Lukas Podolski penalty kick shortly before halftime for Cologne.
But Augsburg took a lead into the break after Cologne's Henrique Sereno fouled Daniel Baier inside the box, allowing Nando Rafael to fire home the go-ahead goal from the spot.
Augsburg held on over the remaining 45 minutes to extend its unbeaten streak to six games, while Cologne has lost three straight and drops into the bottom three for the first time this season.
Freiburg 2, Bayer Leverkusen 0
Leverkusen, Germany - Freiburg's good run of form continued on Saturday at the BayArena with a 2-0 road victory against Bayer Leverkusen that moves the club three points clear of the drop zone.
Freiburg has won four of its last five games with a draw to greatly increase its chances of survival, while Leverkusen's fortunes have gone the other way with the club dropping to sixth in the Bundesliga following a run of four successive defeats.
The home side fell behind after just eight minutes when Julian Schuster found the net for Freiburg, while Leverkusen was assured of another defeat on the hour mark when Daniel Caligiuri was given space to beat goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a long-range effort.
Mainz 3, Werder Bremen 0
Bremen, Germany - Mainz created a bit of breathing room between itself and the bottom three after claiming a 3-0 win at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
After a run of three defeats in four games Mainz was sitting just a few points above the relegation zone but responded with a big win as Adam Szalai broke the deadlock in the 19th minute.
Maxim Choupo-Moting doubled the advantage after beating goalkeeper Tim Wiese in a one-on-one situation before confusion between the 'keeper and midfielder Clemens Fritz handed Choupo-Moting another goal.
With just one point from its last three games Bremen's European hopes have taken a big hit.
Hamburg 1, Kaiserslautern 0
Kaiserslautern, Germany - Hamburg jumped out of the relegation zone and two points clear of 16th-place Cologne after claiming a 1-0 win at last-place Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
Hamburg entered the match having lost its last four games but took a lead midway through the first half through Marcell Jansen, who pounced on a deflected shot from Ivo Ilicevic to beat goalkeeper Tobias Sippel.
The result means that Kaiserslautern has failed to win any of its last 19 league games and the club faces a major uphill battle to survive sitting 10 points adrift of safety with six games to play.
Wolfsburg 4, Hertha Berlin 1
Berlin, Germany - Wolfsburg snatched a fourth successive win on Saturday at second-from-the-bottom Hertha Berlin to remain in the thick of the race for a Europa League place.
After going ahead in the 13th minute through Levan Kobiashvili, Hertha handed Wolfsburg the equalizer with an own goal from Christoph Janker.
Patrick Helmes took over from there for Wolfsburg by netting the go-ahead goal in the 34th minute and sealing the win with another in the 81st. Mario Mandzukic tallied his 11th goal of the season in between the two goals from Helmes, handing Hertha a third defeat in four games.
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