Son Heung-Min lifts Leverkusen over Augsburg to snap Bundesliga slump

South Korean Son Heung-Min scored a late goal that put flagging Bayer Leverkusen over FC Augsburg on Wednesday, their first win in 10 games.

Leverkusen's Korean striker Son Heung-Min, right, and Augsburg defender Ronny Philp vie for the ball during their Bundesliga match on Wednesday. Christof Stache / AFP / March 26, 2014

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 DFB-Pokal 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.

But 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.

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

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 Monchengladbach dropped 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 10-man Hannover, who had midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach sent off for a foul on Anthony Modeste

On Tuesday, Bayern Munich claimed their 24th Bundesliga title with a 3-1 win at Hertha Berlin as Pep Guardiola’s side secured the title with a record seven games to spare.

In his debut season, Guardiola has now won three trophies in nine months after last August’s Uefa Super Cup triumph and December’s Club World Cup success.

His side have an unassailable 25-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund and are on course to become the first team to finish a Bundesliga season unbeaten.

Bayern’s 19th consecutive league win secured their 24th title and victory at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium was never in doubt after they raced into a 2-0 lead with just 15 minutes gone.

Midfielder Toni Kroos slammed home an early strike before Mario Goetze headed their second.

Hertha’s Colombia striker Adrian Ramos scored a second-half penalty before France winger Franck Ribery came off the bench to net a superb third 11 minutes from time.

Dortmund held on to second place with a goalless draw at home to third-placed local rivals Schalke with no trouble reported despite security concerns seeing some 3000 police officers deployed for the match.

Wolfsburg moved up to fifth with a 3-1 win at mid-table Werder Bremen as Junior Malanda, Ivan Perisic and Germany Under-21 attacking midfielder Maximilian Arnold, who is still only 19, found the net for the visitors.

Centre-back Sebastian Proedl netted a consolation for Bremen.

Bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig breathed some life into their survival fight with a shock 3-1 win at home to seventh-placed Mainz as Congolese-born captain Dominick Kumbela scored twice.

Things remain tight at the foot of the table with five points separating the bottom five teams.

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