Hamburg won Sunday's north German Bundesliga derby with a 3-2 victory at home as Werder Bremen finished with nine men while South Korea striker Son Heung-Min scored a great goal for the hosts.
Werder were reduced to nine men after captain Clemens Fritz was shown a second yellow card with ten minutes to go for a foul.
With time almost up, Austria bad-boy striker Marko Arnautovic followed for an early shower after he was booked for a foul, then sent off just seconds later when he appeared to aim a kick at referee Thorsten Kinhoefer in the 91st minute.
"That was a real derby. Both teams wanted to prove themselves," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf.
"We didn't start well after the break and we didn't take our chances.
"I don't want to talk about the yellow cards, that doesn't help us."
Bremen had taken a ninth minute lead when Congo defender Assani Lukimya headed home, but Hamburg drew level on 22 minutes when Son turned Bremen left back Theodor Gebre Selassiedefender and smashed his shot in the far corner.
It was 1-1 at the break, but Germany defender Denins Aogo needed less than 30 seconds after the restart to covert Son's pass to put Hamburg ahead and just seven minutes later Artjoms Rudnevs netted to make it 3-1 for the hosts.
Bremen's Greece defender Sokratis set up a thrilling final 30 minutes when his shot from outside the area slipped under Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler and into the net on 54 minutes.
"I know how important this game is for the region," said Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink.
"We learned to deal with the setbacks and fought to get back in the game from 1-0 down."
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich can extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 11 points if they win the south German derby at Stuttgart on Sunday night.
On Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen reclaimed second place in the Bundesliga from defending champions Borussia Dortmund despite being held to a goalless draw at gritty Freiburg.
Leverkusen host Dortmund, who beat Nuremberg 3-0 on Friday, next Sunday in a mouth-watering clash.
Fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt stayed in the chasing pack with a 2-1 home win over Hoffenheim, who drop into the automatic relegation places to go second from bottom.
With speculation rife over whether Germany midfielder Lewis Holtby will join Tottenham Hotspur before January's transfer window closes, his Schalke 04 side were held to a goalless draw at relegation-candidates Augsburg.
Holtby, whose contract ends in June, will join Spurs for next season and, although the North London club want to sign him sooner, Schalke have rejected all their offers for the 22-year-old so far.
Schalke have won just once in eight games and drop to sixth, while the hosts moved up to 16th.
Mainz moved up to fifth with a workmanlike 3-0 win at bottom side Greuther Fuerth as former Real Madrid striker Adam Szalai scored twice.
Borussia Moenchengladbach enjoyed a 2-1 win at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf to claim seventh place.
Despite having defender Sebastien Pocognoli sent off for a dangerous foul just 34 minutes into his Bundesliga debut after joining from Standard Liege last week, 10-man Hanover 96 claimed a 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg.
There was bad news for Hanover after the game as it was confirmed Swiss centre-back Mario Eggimann faces a long lay off after breaking his ankle.
Source: AFP
