Hamburg and Hertha hold on to title dream

Hamburger SV maintained their challenge for the Bundesliga title after two Mladen Petrić goals earned a 2-1 win at home to Hannover 96 and Hertha BSC Berlin kept themselves in contention too, beating Werder Bremen by the same score.

Fresh Petrić
Hamburg had needed all their resilience to hold out away to Manchester City FC to progress in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals on Thursday but any hopes the visitors may have harboured about lethargy from their hosts were quickly banished. Petrić, perhaps fresher than some of his team-mates after only coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute in the 2-1 defeat in England, struck with barely a minute on the clock.

Wolfsburg streak
The Croatian striker was equally alert after the restart as he added his 12th league goal of the campaign on 52 minutes although Hannover set up a nervous finale for Martin Jol's charges by pulling a goal back through Mikael Forssell with 20 minutes to play. HSV held on again, though, to return level with second-placed FC Bayern München and within three points of leaders VfL Wolfsburg, who won their tenth Bundesliga match on the trot against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday.

Raffael winner
Hertha are five points off the pace after Raffael's late winner condemned Germany's other UEFA Cup contenders to defeat in Berlin. Per Mertesacker had given the away side a half-time advantage but a rare Josip Šimunić strike – his third in 216 league games for the club – with 19 minutes left inspired the home side and Raffael drilled in the dramatic decider in the 87th minute.