Wolfsburg earn lifeline by hammering Köln

Former champions VfL Wolfsburg gave themselves a Bundesliga lifeline on Sunday with a 4-1 win over fellow relegation-candidates 1. FC Köln. Despite the three points, 2009 champions Wolfsburg remain third from bottom, but are now just two points from safety with three games left before the season finishes on May 14.

Borussia Dortmund lost to Mönchengladbach 0-1 (0-1) in the late game of saturdays action in the Bundesliga and has cut its lead over Leverkusen to five points. Mohamadou Idrissou scored the winning goal for Gladbach, which has now new hope after leaving the last place.

Bayern München missed out on their chance to regain the third place in the Bundesliga on saturday with a 1-1 (0-0) at Frankfurt. Second placed Bayer Leverkusen defeated 1899 Hoffenheim 2-1 (1-1).

Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart and Bremen each took a big step away from the dangerous region of the standings by winning their matches. Bremen turned things around at St. Pauli to win 3-1 (0-1), Stuttgart had no trouble against Hamburger SV (3-0) and Kaiserslautern stole three points with a 1-0 (1-0) at Schalke.

Round 31 of the Bundesliga started on Thursday with a win of Hannover 96. The team of coach Mirko Slomka won 3-0 in Freiburg and displaced Bayern München until Saturday. Mohammed Abdellaoue, Jan Schlaudraff and Konstantin Rausch scored for the team, which recaptured place three.

The match on Thursday (8.30 pm cet):
SC Freiburg- Hannover 96 1-3 (0-2)

The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
Schalke 04 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0-1 (0-1)
Bayer Leverkusen - 1899 Hoffenheim 2-1 (1-1)
VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV 3-0 (1-0)
Eintracht Frankfurt - Bayern München 1-1 (0-0)
St. Pauli - Werder Bremen 1-3 (1-0)

The match on Saturday (6.30 pm cet):
Borussia Mönchengladbach - Borussia Dortmund 1-0 (1-0)

The match on Sunday (3.30 pm cet):
VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Köln 4-1 (1-0)

The match on Sunday (5.30 pm cet):
1. FC Nürnberg - Mainz 05 0-0