A 36th-minute goal from Nelson Valdez was enough to take Borussia Dortmund above opponents Hamburg and into fourth place in the Bundesliga.
The Paraguay striker decided an evenly contested game 10 minutes before the break to lift the Westphalians to within two points of local rivals Schalke, the last team to beat them back in September.
Since then, Dortmund have risen from the bottom half of the table up to fourth, just three points behind league leaders Bayern Munich.
Hamburg started well on a pitch which was not much better than their own, which had come in for a lot of criticism last weekend.
They played more like the home team as Dortmund were forced onto the back foot at the Westfalen Stadion.
But they weathered the early storm and had the chance to go ahead in the 25th minute when Lucas Barrios got in the first dangerous shot of the game.
Valdez then put them ahead in the 36th minute with a perfectly-placed shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area after Dennis Aogo failed to make a substantial clearance.
Hamburg responded well and had several chances to level before half-time, but Dortmund's stand-in goalkeeper Marc Ziegler was protected well by his defence.
Ziegler had to get involved more frequently in the second period as Hamburg searched for an equaliser.
The closest they came was in the 62nd minute when Mladen Petric headed just inches over the crossbar from close range.
Markus Berg was then denied by an instinctive save by Ziegler as Dortmund held on desperately for a crucial three points - which were celebrated like a cup final success both on and off the field at the final whistle.
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