Hamburg - Defending champions VfL Wolfsburg moved up to fifth in the Bundesliga Sunday with a 2-1 win at home to struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach. Edin Dzeko twice hit the woodwork for Wolfsburg and Obafemi Martins also missed a great opportunity before Alexander Madlung finally gave the home side a deserved lead with a header shortly before half-time.
Zvjezdan Misimovic nearly doubled Wolfsburg's lead with a free- kick two minutes after the restart but Gladbach goalkeeper Logan Bailly managed to push his well-struck shot around the post.
Christian Gentner finally made it 2-0 for Armin Veh's side in added time although there was still time for Michael Bradley to pull one back for the visitors.
The win sees Wolfsburg move on to 16 points, five adrift of leaders Bayer Leverkusen and SV Hamburg, who played out a scoreless draw in a top-of-the-table encounter Saturday.
"We know that we didn't play well but the important thing is that we won and remain in contact with the leaders," said Misimovic.
Gladbach remain second from bottom of the table on seven points from eight matches to heap the pressure on under-fire coach Michael Frontzeck.
"We had the chance today to get a draw or even manage a victory," said a disappointed Gladbach captain Tobias Levels.
Borussia Dortmund entertain VfL Bochum in Sunday's late game.
In Saturday action, Schalke won 2-1 at VfB Stuttgart to move to third on 19 points, one more than fourth-placed Werder Bremen, who managed a 2-0 victory at home against Hoffenheim.
Bayern Munich also returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory at Freiburg to lie sixth on 15 points. At the wrong end of the table Hertha Berlin's woes continued as they lost 3-0 at Nuremberg to remain rooted to the bottom with just three points from their nine games.
Berlin's defeat was made worse by the fact that fellow strugglers Cologne beat Mainz 1-0 while Eintracht Frankfurt registered a 2-1 victory at home against Hanover.
