Hamburg SV won the 101st northern German derby with a late 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen while 10-man Stuttgart lost 0-1 to FC Augsburg in the 12th round of Bundesliga.
Hamburg sealed a late win over Bremen Sunday thanks to the goals by substitute Artjoms Rudnevs and Bremen keeper Raphael Wolf, whose clearance attempt crossed the goal line, reports Xinhua.
Both sides staged an unspectacular encounter in front of the sold-out crowd at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg. The hosts dictated the pace but lacked in penetration against Werder Bremen's well-positioned defence. Thus, goal-scoring opportunities remained a rare occurrence.
However, the hosts were able to break the deadlock in the 83rd minute through substitute Artjoms Rudnevs. The striker poked home a flicked on throw-in into the box from close range at the far post.
Bremen's Clemens Fritz destroyed all hopes of a draw when he was sent off after getting booked for the second time following a foul play in the 90th minute. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as goalkeeper Raphael Wolf failed to clear a rebound off the goalline, resulting in Hambur's second goal three minutes into the injury time.
With the third win of the season, Hamburg climbed out of the relegation zone onto the 15th place whereas Bremen slipped to 17th place, the second last position.
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Elsewhere, Stuttgart suffered their seventh loss in 12 games as clinical FC Augsburg converted a controversial penalty to snatch a 1-0 victory on the road.
Stuttgart ensured the worst possible start as Daniel Schwaab was sent off after his second bookable offence in the 24th minute.
Augsburg struggled to utilise their numerical superiority but opened the scoring, courtesy of a handball penalty in the 72nd minute.
Augsburg's Paul Verhaegh stepped up and converted the penalty to put the contest beyond Stuttgart. The victory moved Augsburg from seventh to the sixth place while Stuttgart remain at the bottom of the standings.