Berlin snatch late 1-0 win at Hamburg in German Bundesliga

Berlin carved out a late 1-0 win against 10-men Hamburg by courtesy of Sebastian Langkamp's header, at the curtain raiser of the 26th round in Bundesliga on Friday.

Berlin wrapped up vital points in the relegation battle as Sebastian Langkamp secured his side the eighth win of the season, while relegation-threatened Hamburg, waiting for three points since six games, suffered their 13th loss in the 26th game.

Both sides lacked in ideas to pose threat with their offences thus goal-scoring opportunities remained a rare occurrence over 90 minutes.

Hamburg took the reins on home soil against passive visitors from Berlin but the hosts were only able to yield one noteworthy chance through Zoltan Stieber, who forced Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft to make a save.

However, as the match progressed Hamburg handed over control to Berlin, who got their first shot on target through Aenis Ben Hatira before the break.

After the restart Hamburg had the best chance to break the deadlock but Pierre-Michel Lasogga needed too much time to complete his effort from inside the box. The momentum of the game changed with the dismissal of Hamburg's Cleber, who booked his second yellow card of the evening for repeated foul play, weakening his team at the 81st minute.

Cleber's dismissal was punished only four minutes later as Sebastian Langkamp killed the game by heading home Marvin Plattenhardt's long free kick cross into the box.

With the victory, Berlin jumped to 13th position of the table, establishing a six point gap to the Bundesliga drop zone, whereas Hamburg sat next to the relegation zone with just a two-point advantage.

The following games are scheduled for tomorrow: Hannover face Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg host Augsburg, Stuttgart meet Eintracht Frankfurt, Cologne see Werder Bremen, newly promoted Paderborn encounter Hoffenheim and Schalke clash Bayer Leverkusen. Endi