Pizarro strike edges Bremen closer to Europe

Bremen were heading to a 0-0 draw before Pizarro popped up in the 81st-minute to mark his 100th Bundesliga appearance.

Werder Bremen moved closer to a European place for next season when striker Claudio Pizarro scored a late goal to seal their 1-0 win at Hoffenheim on Sunday.

Bremen were heading to a 0-0 draw before Pizarro popped up in the 81st-minute to mark his 100th Bundesliga appearance by lobbing Hoffenheim goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand.

It was the Peruvian's 11th league goal of the season.

The result leaves Bremen sixth in the table and one-point from the top five which would qualify them for a place in Europe with eight league games left this season.

On Saturday, Bayern Munich suffered a Champions League hangover before Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored twice to seal a 2-1 win over strugglers Freiburg to put the hosts back on top of the Bundesliga.

After Tuesday's away goals victory over Fiorentina, which saw them make the Champions League's quarter-finals, Bayern went behind when Freiburg striker Cedrick Makiadi rifled in a 20-metre shot on 31 minutes.

The hosts looked lethargic before Dutch international Robben scored his ninth league goal of the season, when he drilled home a free-kick on 76 minutes.

And he then completed Munich's fightback when he converted an 83rd-minute penalty to put Bayern two points clear of second-placed Schalke 04.

Earlier rock-bottom Hertha Berlin slipped closer to relegation after suffering a 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Nuremberg who grabbed an injury-time winner.

Police made 30 arrests and four officers were injured as Hertha fans rampaged through Berlin's Olympic Stadium after Nuremberg's Greece striker Angelos Charisteas scored the winner in stoppage time.

Their second straight wins lifts Nuremberg up to 15th and out of the relegation zone.

Dortmund moved up to fourth with a 4-1 victory at Bochum.

Wolfsburg claimed their fourth-straight league win under caretaker manager Lorenz-Guenther Koestner when they hammered Moenchengladbach 4-0 to go eighth.

Hanover got their second consecutive win under new coach Mirko Slomka with a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to go 16th.

Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen need to beat Hamburg on Sunday to get their title hopes back on track after last weekend's shock loss to Nuremberg.

On Friday, former German international striker Kevin Kuranyi grabbed a 55th-minute winner to temporarily put Schalke top, sealing a 2-1 win against Stuttgart.

It was Schalke's third successive win and their eighth at home this season while Kuranyi's timely strike was his 14th of the campaign.