Borussia Moenchengladbach's slump continued on Sunday as they lost 2-1 at Hanover to leave them 12 points behind German league leaders Borussia Dortmund with six games left.
This was Gladbach's second straight defeat and they have picked up just six points from a possible 21 in their last seven league matches.
Despite the defeat, they remain fourth, 10 points clear of Hanover who move up to fifth.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan put Hanover ahead when he fired home on 57 minutes after rounding Gladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Ex-Manchester United and Senegal striker Mame Biram Diouf then extended the lead with Hanover's second through a header on 76 minutes.
Norway's 21-year-old striker Havard Nordtveit pulled a goal back for Gladbach on 78 minutes to give the visitors some hope, but it was too late.
On Saturday, Bayern Munich trimmed Dortmund's lead at the top back to three points as the Bavarians' 1-0 win at Nuremberg heated up the title race.
After champions Dortmund were held to a dramatic 4-4 draw at home to Stuttgart on Friday night, second-placed Bayern seized their opportunity with Dutch winger Arjen Robben hitting the winner.
The win was also a perfect boost ahead of Tuesday's home Champions League quarter-final second leg tie against Marseille where Bayern start with a 2-0 lead.
Dortmund host Bayern at home on April 11 in a showdown which could decide the Bundesliga title while the pair will also contest the German Cup final on May 12.
Hertha Berlin's woes continued as they were drubbed 4-1 at home to VfL Wolfsburg to remain second from bottom and four points from safety as ex-Germany striker Patrick Helmes netted twice in the rout.
Freiburg stay clear of the relegation zone after picking up their third straight win and have gone five games without defeat after they earned a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, who produced a poor performance.
It was Leverkusen's fourth straight defeat and cost coach Robin Dutt his job as he was sacked on Sunday morning to be replaced by caretaker coaches Sami Hyypia and Under-19 boss Sascha Lewandowski.
Ex-Liverpool defender Hyypia, 38, is completing his coaching qualifications in Finland and the duo will take charge for next Sunday's game against Hamburg with his team seventh and in contention for a Europa League place.
Cologne dropped into the bottom three for the first time since August after they were beaten 2-1 at Augsburg.
Mainz are up to 10th after their 3-0 win at Werder Bremen.
Hamburg enjoyed their first win in eight games to climb up to 15th and out of the relegation places with a 1-0 victory over bottom side Kaiserslautern which took the pressure off coach Thorsten Fink.
On Friday, Dortmund were stunned as Stuttgart produced a last-gasp equaliser to share the points with the league leaders.
Striker Christian Gentner poached a point for Stuttgart at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park stadium when he scored in the 92nd minute to break home-fans' hearts as the lead changed hands three times in the last 20 minutes.
Source: AFP
