Sebastian Prodl's winner reignited Werder Bremen's charge for European football with a 2-1 win over 10-man Mainz.
Bremen took full advantage of Borussia Dortmund's defeat at Schalke last night to close the gap as Prodl won it after Aristide Bance struck on half-time to cancel out Tim Borowski's opener.
Mainz were always on the back-foot after having Florian Heller sent off in only the 14th minute.
Bremen were playing only two days after handing out a 4-1 thumping to FC Twente in the Europa League, but if they were feeling any fatigue from that match, they got early help as Heller made his exit.
He began the incident as the victim as Aaron Hunt fouled him to earn a booking of his own, but Heller retaliated and was shown red by referee Babak Rafati.
Bremen made that man advantage count 17 minutes later when Borowski curled in a free-kick after Elkin Soto was guilty of blocking off Claudio Pizarro 30 yards from goal.
Mainz responded with a free-kick of their own, which Soto took, finding Bo Svensson at the far post. He climbed higher than Naldo but put his header over the crossbar.
But they were level on the stroke of half-time.
Naldo was again at fault as he was all too easily beaten by Bance, who then hammered the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the area, leaving Christian Vander with no chance.
Despite that setback, Bremen did not need long after the break to respond, with Prodl finding the far corner of the net with a left-footed shot.
Mainz, finding their numerical advantage too much to overcome, could not create another chance as Bremen were happy to shut up shop and collect the three points.
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