Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf was a relieved man after his title-chasing side's 2-0 win over Mainz 05 on Sunday kept the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04.
Goals by Jurica Vranjes and Diego helped second-placed Bremen peg the leaders back to a three-point advantage as Schalke had briefly opened a six-point lead after Saturday's win over third-placed Stuttgart.
Vranjes gave Bremen the lead on the hour mark when he took a slick pass on the edge of the area and smashed his shot past Mainz's diving goalkeeper Dimo Wache.
PHOTO: EPA
And Bremen made sure of the points in injury time when Brazilian Diego broke clear of the defense after a quick counter-attack and chipped into an empty net as Mainz's defense was exposed chasing an equalizing goal.
"This was a key win for us," Schaaf said. "If we had lost, Schalke would have enjoyed a big lead and it was important that we didn't let them get away."
In the day's other game, bottom-side Borussia Moenchengladbach travelled to Bayer Leverkusen's BayArena and looked to have picked up a valuable point until dealt a cruel blow in injury time.
With the match cruising towards a 0-0 draw, Bayer's striker Andrey Voronin saw his powerful shot deflected off a defender and past 'Gladbach's keeper Kasey Keller to seal the 1-0 win which lifts his side to fifth.
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