Leverkusen take Augsburg chance as Nürnberg rise

Bayer 04 Leverkusen earned an important 3-1 victory at FC Augsburg on a night of plenty of action towards the bottom end of the German Bundesliga.

FC Schalke 04's goalless draw at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday had given fourth-placed Leverkusen the chance to move within four points of the Gelsenkirchen side and that opportunity was seized – albeit late in the game.

Stefan Kiessling's early effort had been cancelled out by the hosts' Tobias Werner after half-time but, in the final ten minutes, Son Heung-Min surprised Marwin Hitz at his near post and Emre Can sprinted from his own half to fire in off an upright and seal the points for Sami Hyypiä's men.

VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach missed their chance to leapgrog VfL Wolfsburg into fifth as Joselu's solitary effort for the home team edged Eintracht Frankfurt further away from trouble. Meanwhile, 1. FC Nürnberg rose out of the relegation zone courtesy of two unanswered Josip Drmic goals against visiting VfB Stuttgart, who slip to one off the bottom after third-last Hamburger SV secured a 1-1 home draw with another struggler, SC Freiburg.

Hannover 96 are five points above both Stuttgart and Hamburg after they slumped 3-1 at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Manuel Schmiedebach's 76th-minute red card and Sebastian Rudy's late clincher keeping the visitors in an anxious position.