Hamburg stopped Hertha Berlin's winning run with a 2-0 victory while the goalless draw between Mainz and Darmstadt concluded the 25th round in Bundesliga football league.
Nicolai Mueller's second-half brace against third-placed Berlin on Sunday helped Hamburg to return to winning ways after three winless games in a row, reports Xinhua.
Hamburg controlled the ball in the first half but were unable to turn their possession into a tangible reward. Hamburg's Gotoku Sakai tested Berlin's goalkeeper Rune Jarstein twice while Hamburg's custodian Rene Adler had little to do.
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After the restart, Hamburg kept it bowling and rewarded their efforts with 58 minutes into the game, as Nicolai slotted home Lewis Holtby's square pass into the bottom right.
Berlin turned up and tried hard to equalise the scores but the "Herthaner" lacked in accuracy as Vladimir Darida failed to beat Rene Adler in the 66th minute. Pal Dardai' s men pressed frenetically and threw everything up front but Hamburg caught the visitors flat-footed in the 75th minute after Nicolai completed a fast-break, via Aaron Hunt and Lewis Holtby, to seal the deal and his brace.
With the result, Hertha Berlin' s two-game winning streak came to an end. They remain nonetheless on the third place of the Bundesliga standings, meanwhile, Hamburg climbed from the 11th to the 10th position.
"Hamburg deserved to win today. We have to accept that and to improve our game for the upcoming games," Berlin coach Pal Dardai said.
Elsewhere, ten-men Mainz and newly promoted Darmstadt shared the spoils following goalless ninety minutes. Mainz extended their unbeaten run on home soil to seven games whereas Darmstadt wait since five games on a victory.
Mainz stay on the fifth place while Darmstadt slip to the 15th place, just two points adrift of Bundesliga's drop-zone.
