Mainz win at lowly Bremen to ease relegation fears, Union happy

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Mainz's Jae-sung Lee celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and FSV Mainz 05 at Weserstadion. Carmen Jaspersen/dpa

Mainz moved away from the Bundesliga drop zone after goals from Paul Nebel and Lee Jae Sung clinched a 2-0 win at strugglers Werder Bremen on Sunday.

Mainz nudged up to 13th, three points above the relegation play-off spot with eight games left. Bremen are two points behind their conquerors.

Midfielder Nebel met Phillipp Mwene's cross with a diving header to send the ball just underneath the bar in the sixth minute.

The scorer then paid tribute to team mate Silas by holding up his jersey after the forward broke his leg in the 0-0 Conference League draw at Sigma Olomouc in midweek.

Nebel told reporters: "The goal was just instinct. Phillipp's ball was great, I made good contact and I'm happy to have set us on our way. We wanted to win, above all for Silas. We dedicated the victory to him with his shirt."

Urs Fischer's side will go into Thursday's last 16 second leg with renewed confidence after their showing against Bremen. They were bottom when the Swiss took over in December, but have since won five and drawn six in the Bundesliga under the former Union Berlin boss.

Leonardo Bittencourt almost levelled for Bremen straight after Nebel's opener with a similar effort, yet struck the woodwork.

The hosts also started the second half brightly but South Korea's Lee stunned the Weserstadion on 52 minutes when he bundled in Sheraldo Becker's cross.

Bremen had won two on the bounce under Daniel Thioune but now face a crucial trip to second-bottom Wolfsburg next Saturday.

"It hurts because Mainz, even though they played during the week, completely took the wind out of our sails," Bremen captain Marco Friedl told DAZN.

Union jumped four points above Mainz after a late 1-0 win at Freiburg, who stay eighth and now have slim hopes of a European place. The Berliners sit just three points below in ninth.

Jeong Woo Yeong made it a special day for South Koreans in the Bundesliga with a fine finish in stoppage time. Freiburg later had a good shout for a penalty ignored.

The late match is key to the battle for the Champions League places, pitting fourth-placed VfB Stuttgart against RB Leipzig in fifth.

On Saturday, nine-man Bayern Munich drew 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen and second-placed Borussia Dortmund beat Augsburg 2-0. But the Bavarians still lead the table by nine points as a 13th title in 14 years draws near.

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Mainz's Jae-sung Lee celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and FSV Mainz 05 at Weserstadion. Carmen Jaspersen/dpa
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Mainz's Paul Nebel celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and FSV Mainz 05 at Weserstadion. Carmen Jaspersen/dpa

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