Injury-hit Freiburg stun Hertha 2-0 in relegation battle

BERLIN (Reuters) - Struggling Freiburg shrugged off the absence of seven players through injury and illness to beat hosts Hertha Berlin 2-0 in their relegation battle on Sunday that allowed manager Christian Streich to breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

Even without their top two strikers Admir Mehmedi and Nils Petersen, Freiburg struck once in either half with Felix Klaus and Berliner Maximilian Philipp to secure their second win in the last 10 league games that lifted them to 16th place on 21 points.

For Hertha coach Pal Dardai, it was a quick return to reality. After his debut win away at Mainz 05 last week, Dardai led his lacklustre team off the pitch on Sunday to the sounds of 37,000 home fans jeering his men. The result left Hertha in 17th place, also on 21 points.

Minnows Paderborn came from a goal down to score twice in seven minutes to edge past Hanover 96 2-1 and secure their first win in 11 league games.

The promoted club came to life after Hanover took the lead in the 66th minute through Marcelo's volley at the far post with their first chance of the game.

New transfer Srdjan Lakic headed them level six minutes later and keeper Ron-Robert Zieler failed to hold on to a fluttering Alban Meha free kick in the 79th as the small Westphalian club jumped into 12th place on 23 points.

The result left Hanover coach Tayfun Korkut under mounting pressure as they lie 10th with 25 points, only four points above the relegation zone.

Leaders Bayern Munich protected their eight-point gap with an 8-0 demolition of Hamburg SV on Saturday, with VfL Wolfsburg securing a thrilling 5-4 win at Bayer Leverkusen courtesy of Bas Dost's four goals. They stay second on 44 points.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)