Stuttgart cruised to a 4-0 home win over Hamburg on Sunday to climb above RB Leipzig into third place in the Bundesliga with five games remaining this season.
German Cup holders Stuttgart are now ahead of Leipzig on goal difference with the top four sides guaranteed a Champions League spot.
Germany internationals Angelo Stiller, Chris Fuehrich and Maximilian Mittelstaedt all got on the scoresheet for Stuttgart and Bilal El Khannouss scored his first goal since making his loan from Leicester City permanent in January to round out the romp.
Deniz Undav’s missed second-half penalty, which he blasted well over the bar, was the only blot on the copybook for the dominant hosts.
Stiller converted a clever Jamie Leweling cutback with 22 minutes gone to put Stuttgart in front. Fuehrich added another just after the half-hour mark when Stuttgart bullied Hamburg into a mistake on the edge of their own box.
Mittelstaedt and El Khannouss both scored in the second half either side of Undav’s wayward penalty.
Earlier on Sunday, Werder Bremen edged closer to the Bundesliga drop zone after going down 3-1 at Cologne in an error-ridden performance.
Bremen gave away an early penalty, converted by Said El Mala, and lost captain Marco Friedl to a red card midway through the first half.
Ragnar Ache doubled Cologne’s lead, while Isak Johannesson’s effort was deflected into his own net by Bremen goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, either side of a Romano Schmid penalty for the visitors.
The defeat leaves Bremen — who share the distinction of having played the joint-most Bundesliga seasons alongside Bayern Munich –three points clear of the relegation play-off spot.
Cologne leapfrogged Bremen and are now five points clear of the drop zone.
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