Leverkusen end winless streak

Leverkusen's midfielder Lars Bender (L) and Augsburg's defender Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker vie for the ball.
(AFP PHOTO/CHRISTOF STACHE)

BERLIN: South Korea's Son Heung-Min hit a superb late goal to help Sami Hyypia's Bayer Leverkusen claim their first win in 10 games in Wednesday's 3-1 Bundesliga victory at Augsburg.

Having previously tasted victory at the start of February, Leverkusen's miserable run of results saw them slip from second to fourth in the table, crashing out of both the Champions League and German Cup in the process.

Victory at Augsburg broke a streak of eight defeats in their last nine games in all competitions and eased the pressure on Hyypia, 40, who is in his first season as head coach.

"It's an important win for us," said ex-Liverpool captain Hyypia.

"I am happy that we've won as we were under pressure for a long time.

"It's a relief to finally get a win, but there are worse jobs to have in life."

Leverkusen took an early lead through former Germany striker Stefan Kiessling before the hosts equalised when prolific midfielder Tobias Werner scored his fourth in consecutive matches.

Son restored their lead when he fired home from a near-impossible angle after Kiessling's final pass before ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Emre Can netted their third exactly 100 seconds later.

The win keeps Leverkusen fourth in the league, which carries a Champions League play-off place, and three points clear of fifth-placed Wolfsburg.

VfB Stuttgart remain second from bottom after they crashed to a 2-0 defeat at fellow relegation-candidates Nuremberg.

Former league giants Hamburg, who are fighting to avoid a historic first relegation from Germany's top-flight, drew 1-1 with Freiburg to stay 16th of 18.

Borussia Moenchengladbach drop to sixth, amongst the Europa League berths, after a 1-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, who are up to 11th after their second consecutive win.

Mid-table Hoffenheim won 3-1 at home to ten-man Hanover 96, who had midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach sent off for a foul on Anthony Modeste.