Berlin, Apr 18 (IANS): Borussia Dortmund moved 3-0 past Hamburg by courtesy of Adrian Ramos' brace whereas Cologne came from behind to snatch a 3-2 win against Mainz to close the 30th round in the Bundesliga football league.
Runners-up Dortmund on Sunday recovered from their dramatic UEFA Europa League exit against Liverpool on Thursday, by beating Hamburg 3-0 thanks to their clinical chance conversion on home soil, reports Xinhua.
However, it was the visitors from the North who created the first chances of the encounter. Ivo Ilicevic's diving header missed the target narrowly in the 16th minute before Dortmund's defender Mats Hummels last-grasp tackle hindered Sven Schipplock to beat onrushing custodian Roman Buerki 20 minutes later.
The hosts cut a better figure in front of Hamburg's goal area as United States international Christian Pulisic unleashed a right-footed low effort into the near post corner to break the deadlock with 38 minutes played.
Hamburg wobbled and suffered another goal against as Adrian Ramos curled home Nuri Sahin's build-up work from 12 metres into the far post corner with one minute remaining in the first half.
Things went from bad to worse for Hamburg after goalkeeper Rene Adler brought down Shinji Kagawa outside the box to see a straight red card with seven minutes into the second half.
Dortmund, now in superior numbers, controlled the proceedings and tripled the lead as Ramos wrapped up his brace with four minutes from time, rounding off 22nd victory of the season.
With the result, second-placed Dortmund sit seven points adrift of front-runners Bayern Munich with four games to spare meanwhile Hamburg slumped to the 12th place with a three-point advantage to a relegation play-off spot.
Elsewhere, Mainz squandered a two-goal lead allowing Cologne to score three second-half goals to turn the tides. Jhon Cordoba and Leon Balogun established the 2-0 lead within 46 minutes before Cologne bounced back through the goals from Marcel Risse, Milos Jojic and Anthony Modeste.
With the comeback win, Cologne jumped on the 10th place while Mainz stay on the sixth position.