BERLIN (AP) - Hamburger SV ended its seven-game losing streak in the Bundesliga by beating Borussia Dortmund 3-0 on new coach Mirko Slomka’s debut on Saturday.
Pierre Michel Lasogga set up Petr Jiracek’s 42nd-minute headed opener and scored in the 58th. Hakan Calhanoglu completed the win with an improbable 45-meter free kick in injury time.
Slomka took over last Monday from Bert van Marwijk, who was fired after the side lost its previous eight games in all competitions.
“The result is a bit flattering,” Slomka said. “But we did well in defense over long periods and the team can be proud of these points. Today was one of 13 (remaining) games and we’ll never stop working.”
Hamburg climbed one spot into the relegation playoff place, overtaking Freiburg, which lost 4-2 at home to Augsburg.
Sandro Wagner scored late for Hertha Berlin to win 2-1 at Stuttgart, which has lost seven in succession.
Hoffenheim came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Borussia Moenchengladbach, and 10-man Nuremberg beat Eintracht Braunschweig 2-1 in a game that featured three missed penalties.
Second-place Bayer Leverkusen’s alarming slump continued in the late game with a 3-1 defeat at Wolfsburg, which stretched its winning run to four games.
Bas Dost got the home side off the mark in the 13th, before Leverkusen winger Sidney Sam equalized just before the break.
Luiz Gustavo restored Wolfsburg’s lead in the 58th and Ricardo Rodriguez made it 3-1 on the rebound in the 73rd after Bernd Leno saved his initial penalty attempt.
It was Leverkusen’s seventh defeat in nine games across all competitions, and means Bayern Munich can stretch its lead to 19 points with a win at Hannover on Sunday.
“We have to try something different,” Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia said.
The home side started well in Hamburg, restricting opportunities for Dortmund, which visits Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Jiracek beat two defenders to meet Lasogga’s cross at the far post, after the Hamburg striker did well to keep the ball in play.
Calhanoglu won the ball from Nuri Sahin and Firat Arslan sent Lasogga through to finish with aplomb past Roman Weidenfeller.
Rene Adler made a host of good saves as Hamburg kept a clean sheet for the first time after 14 games. His side conceded at least three in each of its previous seven games including the 5-0 German Cup defeat to Bayern Munich.
“It’s so nice to be rewarded like this at the end of the week,” said Adler, who was criticized after last week’s 4-2 defeat to Braunschweig.
Calhanoglu completed a memorable afternoon when he belted his free kick from near the center circle over Weidenfeller. The Dortmund goalkeeper retreated but was unable to keep the ball out as it dipped in.
Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp was philosophical about his side’s sixth league defeat.
“There’s that old saying that a good horse will only jump as high as it needs to. I hate that saying. I reckon a horse should jump as high as it can,” Klopp said. “Today we looked to see how high we needed to jump. And as we realized that it wasn’t so high, we were behind.”
Freiburg was left fuming after Christian Guenter was booked for diving in the 86th when it looked like he should have been awarded a penalty. Augsburg was leading 3-2 at the time.
The home side’s protests were ignored and Andre Hahn completed the scoring in injury time, leaving Freiburg one point below Hamburg.
Hertha defender Levan Kobiashvili scored in the fifth in Stuttgart, making the 36-year-old the club’s oldest goal-scorer in the Bundesliga, only for Arthur Boka to equalize with a rocket from outside the penalty area before the break.
Wagner scored with a header in the 87th, and was sent off in injury time with two yellow cards in as many minutes.
“We’re incredibly disappointed,” Stuttgart coach Thomas Schneider said. “The team showed it was alive. They threw everything into it.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.