FC Augsburg increased Hamburg SV's relegation worries with a 4-0 win while TSG 1899 Hoffenheim recaptured the third spot beating Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 in the German football league matches.
Augsburg reaped their ninth Bundesliga win of the season on Sunday night thanks to a brace from Halil Altintop.
Hamburg suffered their third loss in row and slumped into the relegation zone as they battle to stay in the German top division, reports Xinhua news agency.
From the kick off, Augsburg assumed control to keep Hamburg's third-choice goalkeeper Tom Mickl busy. But the hosts had to wait until the 28th minute before Altintop slotted home Jonathan Schmid's assist for the opener.
Altintop remained in the thick of things as he doubled the lead just before the break after benefiting from a fast break via Alfred Finnbogason and Philipp Max in the 42nd minute.
After the restart, Hamburg were unable to respond, whereas Augsburg continued where they left off as Philipp Max tripled the lead with his first goal in his 50th Bundesliga appearance in the 76th minute.
The hosts made the game safe after substitute Raul Bobadilla scored the fourth goal of the game.
With this result, Augsburg ease their relegation worries as they jumped from 16th to the 13th position while Hamburg slipped onto the 16th place, which is a relegation play-off spot.
"It is a deserved victory for us. We would have been able to score another goal," Augsburg's head coach Manuel Baum said.
"We hoped for something different but now we have to process this defeat," Hamburg's head coach Markus Gisdol said after the loss.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim snatched a very late winner to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0. This guarantees them a berth in next season's UEFA Champions League.
Both sides settled for a goalless draw but Benjamin Huebner's last-grasp header smoothed the way for Hoffenheim's 15th win of the season.
With this victory, Hoffenheim oust Borussia Dortmund from the 3rd place while Eintracht Frankfurt slipped from the 9th to the 11th position of the Bundesliga standings.
--IANS
ajb/mr
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
