Bremen, Germany – Naldo scored in the 74th minute to spoil a brace from Mike Hanke and 10-man Werder Bremen tied Monchengladbach, 2-2, on Tuesday at Weserstadion in the Bundesliga.
Markus Rosenberg scored inside 20 minutes to give Bremen the early lead, but a red card to Sebastian Boenisch inside the half hour gave Monchengladbach a man advantage for the final hour.
Hanke scored in the 52nd and 67th minutes as Gladbach overcame the early hole, but Naldo earned Bremen a share of the points.
Monchengladbach remained fourth, but saw its cushion for the final Champions League place from Germany close to just seven points over Stuttgart. Bremen is sixth, which is good enough for the league's second Europa League place.
Stuttgart 3, Augsburg 1
Augsburg, Germany - Martin Harnik scored his 14th goal, Vedad Ibisevic notched his 13th, and Stuttgart topped Augsburg 3-1 on Tuesday at Impuls Arena for its sixth win during an eight-game unbeaten streak.
Rafael converted a penalty kick after five minutes for relegation-threatened Augsburg but Serdar Tasci pulled a goal back before the half-hour mark, Harnik scored in the 34th and Ibisevic sealed Stuttgart's win in the 84th.
With 20 points out of a possible 24 over its last eight matches, Stuttgart has climbed into the Champions League picture. Stuttgart is still seven points off fourth place and Monchengladbach and the final CL spot, but has solidified its Europa League place.
Augsburg lost its second straight and remained one point out of the relegation zone with just four matches left in the season.
Freiburg 2, Hertha Berlin 1
Berlin, Germany - Sebastian Freis scored the game-winner as Freiburg defeated Hertha Berlin, 2-1, on Tuesday at Olympic Stadium to take another step toward survival in the Bundesliga.
Roman Hubnik's own goal inside 10 minutes handed Freiburg the lead, and Freis added his goal in the 68th. Freiburg extended its undefeated streak to seven, and moved six points clear of the drop zone with four matches to play.
Hertha, just promoted back to the Bundesliga this season, remained stuck in the bottom three in 17th, three points from safety.
Mainz 4, Cologne 0
Mainz, Germany - Mohamed Zidan scored his seventh goal to lead Mainz to a 4-0 thrashing of Cologne on Tuesday at Coface Arena in the Bundesliga.
Eugen Polanski scored in the 18th minute and Mohamed Zidan scored in the 31st, as Freiburg took control early. Nicolai Muller added a third before halftime, and Adam Szalai capped the scoring after the break.
Mainz won for the second time in its last three to climb seven points clear of the bottom three in 11th. Cologne remained 16th and one point from safety with four matches left in the season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.