Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf was a happy man as his side enjoyed a 2-0 win over strugglers Nuremberg to draw level on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.
Bremen striker Markus Rosenberg scored on the half hour before Croatian forward Ivan Klasnic's 82nd minute header put Bremen on 40 points alongside Bayern -- who stay top by virtue of a superior goal difference.
"I am happy with the result," Schaaf said. "It was not a shiny, high-entertainment game like the fans want to see, but it was the sort of game you have to win. We didn't always keep the tempo high and we were a bit ponderous at times."
After sacking their coach Hans Meyer at the start of the week, 10-man Nuremberg failed to make an impact after Russian striker Ivan Saenko was sent off in the 20th minute.
Meyer's replacement, Thomas von Heesen, had already lost his first game in charge when his side were beaten 1-0 by Benfica in Thursday night's UEFA Cup clash and his side are third from bottom and deep in the mire.
There was drama at bottom side Duisburg as Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger scored in the 92nd minute to seal a 3-2 Stuttgart win and deny the hosts their first success in five games.
Germany's player of the year Mario Gomez put his side 2-0 up as Stuttgart proved dominant early on.
He followed up a 16th-minute header with a superb strike four minutes from the break after a well-timed pass from Mexican midfielder Pavel Pardo
But Duisburg pulled level when Romanian striker Claudiu Niculescu netted a 49th minute free-kick and then Nigerian striker Manasseh Ishiaku put his side level to cause Stuttgart coach Armin Veh some anxiety on 57 minutes.
It was only Hitzlsperger's strike which saved his side's blushes and keep his side 10th.
"I cannot believe how bad we were in the first half, it was nothing like the standard expected from a Bundesliga game," Duisburg coach Rudi Bommer said.
And Stuttgart coach Armin Veh was a relieved man as his side left it late.
"Things went according to plan in the first half and we could have led by more at the break. In the second-half we made life hard for ourselves, but I am just pleased to get the win," he said.
Hansa Rostock had former Germany midfielder Christian Rahn to thank as his 76th minute header gave his side three precious points at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and the win takes them up to 14th.
And Hertha Berlin picked up three points as Brazilian striker Raffael struck in the 93rd minute to light up a dull tie against Arminia Bielefeld.
There was a battle royal at Karlsruhe as German internationals Simon Rolfes and Steffan Kiessling put Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 up midway through the second half.
But the home side fought back with second-half goals by strikers Sebastian Freis and Joshua Kennedy put them level.
The draw leaves Bayer in third, five points off the top pair.
Energie Cottbus' most famous fan -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- was in the stands in the former East German city to see her side lose 2-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund after she was presented with a Cottbus shirt, a scarf and an engraved silver plate before kick-off.
Croatian international Mladen Petric became the league's top-scorer to take his tally up to 11 as he netted twice and the result leaves Energie Cottbus second from bottom with Dortmund in 12th.
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