Bayern close in

After his team had labored to score for over an hour, Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben put Bayern in front in the 69th minute, pouncing on the rebound from a Franck Ribery shot and riding Javier Pinola's challenge to score from 17 meters.

The win was put in some danger in the dying minutes when Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer had to rely on the post to keep his awkward two-fisted punch of an Almog Cohen shot out of goal.

But the lone goal was enough for a win, and Bayern’s three-point pickup was enough to bring them to within three points of league leaders Borussia Dortmund, who had drawn in a 4-4 thriller with Stuttgart on Friday night.

It was Munich's first win away to their Bavarian derby rivals since September 2005, and one the team recognized might prove critical to their hopes at winning three titles this season..

"It's not easy with all the matches we play," said Robben after the match. "We don’t always have a lot of energy, and we need to play smart. It was a very important win."

Bayern host Olympique Marseille on Tuesday in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. The German club won 2-0 away on Wednesday.

More frustration

Having seen their dim hopes of Champions League qualification snuffed out last weekend with a loss at then-fourth place Schalke, Leverkusen needed to begin looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack for the Europa League places.

That message appeared lost on the team - or was at least trumped by a spirited effort from visiting Freiburg, who won 2-0.

The relegation-threatened club pressed Leverkusen from the outset and took the lead after just eight minutes through a headed goal from Julian Schuster.

Leverkusen showed a lot more effort in attack as the game wore on, but still had trouble at the back. In the 59th minute, Freiburg's Daniel Caliguiri cut in from the left wing and was simply never challenged by the Leverkusen back line, shooting and scoring from the edge of the penalty area.

It was Leverkusen's fourth loss in a row - the club's poorest run in a decade. Calls for coach Robin Dutt to be fired rained down from the stands throughout the second half, and Dutt himself seemed puzzled at the meek display.

"It was definitely one of our worst performances of the season," said Dutt. "After the way we lost at Schalke, to play like this is intolerable - I can understand the fans' reaction. There is one person responsible for our performance, and that's me."

Leverkusen announced on Sunday morning that Dutt had been fired.

Cologne, too, were on a dreadful run going into their match in Augsburg, having picked up just four points from their last seven matches. Their luck didn't change on Saturday, as Augsburg out-worked them to win 2-1.

Just under the 20-minute mark, FCA's Axel Bellinghausen, prowling the left flank, drew the Cologne defense toward him and laid off for a wide open Koo at the edge of the area. The Korean shot low and hard just inside the near post.

Considering their dominance in the first half, Augsburg were unlucky to concede an equalizer in the 42nd minute, when Lukas Podolski converted a penalty after having taken a kick to the ribs.

But the game didn't stay on level terms for long. Augsburg won a penalty of their own two minutes later, and went back ahead just before the half-time whistle.

Cologne did nothing to change the result in the second half and their embattled coach, Stale Solbakken, tried his best to cool the talk that he would be fired as well.

"My feeling is I need to go to work each day and do my best," said Solbakken. "If somebody tells me I should stop, that's another story."

Turning the tide

Hamburg, meanwhile, got back to their winning ways in Kaiserslautern after losing four on the trot, holding on to prevail 1-0.

After a shaky start in front of a fired-up crowd on the Betzenberg, Hamburg found their way into the match and took the lead in the 28th minute. Kaiserslautern defender Antar Yahia had used his hand to block Ivo Ilicevic's shot, but referee Thorsten Kinhöfer played the advantage, which allowed Marcell Jansen to convert the rebound into his fifth goal on the season.

With the Red Devils losing touch with the rest of the teams in the relegation fight, those around the club are beginning to reflect on where the season went wrong.

"If you don't score, you can't win," said Lautern defender Florian Dick after the loss. "We've not shown enough determination; we have to admit we've been a poor side since the winter break. It's not good enough."

In another away win, Mainz knocked off Werder Bremen 3-0, with goals from Adam Szalai (19') and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (48' and 74').

In Saturday’s featured evening match, Hertha went down 4-1 to Wolfsburg in Berlin in an end-to-end game of counterattacks that highlighted the hosts' profligacy in front of goal - and the visitors' effectiveness.

Up front Patrick Helmes showed off two world-class finishes for the Wolves in their winning effort, while Hertha strikers Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Adrian Ramos conspired to miss when scoring appeared the easier task.

The loss meant Hertha remain rooted in the drop zone, while Wolfsburg rose to eighth, level on points with Stuttgart, Leverkusen and Bremen.

On Sunday, Hanover will get the chance to leapfrog all of them to go fifth - but will need a win over guests Borussia Mönchengladbach to do so - and Schalke will travel to Hoffenheim with a view toward holding on to third place.

Author: Matt Hermann
Editor: Sean Sinico