Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his first goals for Hamburg to lift his new club to an away win over in-form Stuttgart.
The veteran Holland international striker joined the north Germany club from Real Madrid last month and, in only his second appearance, proved his quality as he stepped off the bench to score a match-winning double.
Marcus Berg had opened the scoring for the visitors after 23 minutes before Christian Trasch equalised 10 minutes after half-time.
Van Nistelrooy, who was given a brief debut in Hamburg's 3-3 draw with Cologne last week, was introduced in the 65th minute and 10 minutes later he was on target to open his account before firing in a second two minutes after that to ensure the win.
Hamburg's win moved them three points behind third-placed Schalke, who play tomorrow, while Stuttgart slumped to their first defeat since boss Christian Gross took charge in December.
The away side profited from a defensive mix-up to grab the lead after 23 minutes when Guy Demel's hopeful long ball was not dealt with and Berg pounced to fire an unstoppable drive past a static Jens Lehmann.
Stuttgart should have at least gone into the break on level terms as they dominated the remainder of the half but Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost was at his best as he twice saved when Sami Khedira looked like scoring.
The home side were finally rewarded after 55 minutes when Trasch curled in a shot from the edge of the area after Aleksandr Hleb cut the ball back from the left byline.
Stuttgart should have gone ahead on the hour mark when Rost spilled Roberto Hilbert's shot into the path of Ciprian Marica, who somehow managed to fire wide from only a couple of yards.
The match turned on Van Nistelrooy's introduction as the veteran striker made Stuttgart pay for their profligacy.
The 33-year-old showed his eye for goal 15 minutes from time when he turned in a shot after Tunay Torun had headed David Rozenhal's free-kick into his path.
Two minutes later Van Nistelrooy was on target again when Robert Tesche's cross fell into his path and he made no mistake from six yards to get his Hamburg career rolling.
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