Germany round-up: Lucio brings Leverkusen relief

Brazilian international defender Lucio scored twice to keep Bayer 04 Leverkusen's hopes of surviving relegation from the 1. Bundesliga alive in a 3-1 win against fellow strugglers DSC Arminia Bielefeld.

Turning point
Leverkusen began the day four points adrift of fourth-bottom VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, and it seemed that they might remain that far behind when Ansgar Brinkmann's penalty gave Arminia the lead. However, Brinkmann received his second yellow card on 63 minutes, it what proved to be the turning point.

Tight race
Lucio, recently returned from injury, struck his first from a free-kick just four minutes later, and he scored his second two minutes after that with a long-range effort. On 71 minutes the turnaround was complete when Hanno Balitsch scored Leverkusen's third. Arminia are only two points ahead of Leverkusen in what is proving a tight race to avoid joining the virtually demoted FC Energie Cottbus.

Vital win
FC Hansa Rostock are still four points ahead of Leverkusen and up to eleventh after beating FC Schalke 04 3-1. Gutavo Varela had put Schalke ahead at the break with his 17th-minute goal, but as at Leverkusen, a sending-off changed the game.

Late penalty
Tomasz Hajto received two bookings in the first ten minutes of the second half, and Rade Prica and Magnus Arvidsson scored to turn the game around. René Rydlewicz's penalty six minutes from the end confirmed the victory that damages sixth-placed Schalke's bid for a European slot.