Bremen beat Hamburg, Darmstadt upset Schalke in German Bundesliga

Werder Bremen bounced back from one goal down to beat Hamburg 2-1 while bottom dwelling Darmstadt craved out a 2-1 victory over Schalke at the closer of the 29th round in Bundesliga on Sunday.

The "Green-Whites" won the 106th Northern derby and extended their unbeaten run to nine games after coming from behind with a 2-1 win over rivals Hamburg.

Bremen came out with guns blazing as Hamburg's goalkeeper Christian Mathenia had to deny Max Kruse from close range with a diving save, just thirty seconds into the game.

However, it were the visitors from Hamburg, who opened the scoring against the run of the game as Michal Gregoritsch nodded in Aaron Hunt's cross from the right wing with six minutes played.

The hosts remained unimpressed and worked out a number of promising chances as Florian Grillitsch pulled wide from the edge of the box before Zlatko Junuzovic rattled the woodwork with a direct free kick.

Bremen's efforts finally paid off just before the half time when Max Kruse restored parity after heading home Fin Bartel's volley lay up from close range in the 41st minute.

After the restart, Bremen continued to set the tone on the pitch but Grillitsch was unable to overcome Mathenia. However, Hamburg remained dangerous as Matthias Ostrzolek tested Bremen goalie Felix Wiedwald.

The hosts smoothed the way for the win in the 75th minute when Florian Kainz turned the tides from sharp angle.

With the result, Werder Bremen jumped to the 8th place whereas Hamburg slumped to the 14th place, just one point away from the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, last placed Darmstadt ended their four-game losing streak as the "Lilien" shocked Schalke with a 2-1 victory.

Mario Vrancic marked the opener for the hosts in the 10th minute before Schalke's Coke levelled the scores in the 75th minute.

Just when the spectators settled for a 1-1 draw, Schalke's Thilo Kehrer saw a straight red card allowing Darmstadt to snatch an injury-time winner.

Schalke failed to clear a ball from the box while Jerome Gondorf capitalized on the rebound to drill the 2-1 decider into the roof of the net. Endit