15:30 Kickoffs: Big wins for Bochum and Gladbach, Wolfsburg and Freiburg snatch late winners | OneFootball

Bochum 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

As smoke emerging from the travelling Borussia Dortmund contingent emerged, it was Bochum who had the better of the early stages in the ‘little Revierderby’.

And it was the hosts who took the lead deservedly in the 33rd minute, with new signing Giorgios Masouras netting for the first time in Bochum colours after recently arriving from Olimpiacos. The Greek tapped home on the goal line to ensure that Phillip Hoffman's shot-come-cross found its way in.

And in sensational fashion, Masouras doubled Bochum's lead just a minute and a half later after latching onto an awfully misplaced pass from Niklas Süle.

The winter arrival drove towards the onrushing Gregor Kobel before lifting the ball over the Swiss goalkeeper to send Bochum racing into a two-goal lead before half time.

As Die Schwarzgelben chased a way back into the encounter, Bochum continued to be a threat on the counter-attack, with Masouras coming agonisingly close to finding a third goal, hitting the side netting with his third stab against Kobel.

With the crowd in the palm of their hands, Bochum saw out a fantastic derby win that lifts Dieter Hecking's men to just a point behind Heidenheim occupying the relegation playoff position.

Union Berlin 1-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Looking to cement themselves amongst the European challengers, Borussia Mönchengladbach raced into a 1-0 lead in just the 10th minute via 20-year-old Lukas Ullrich.

Robin Hack embarked on a venture down the left-hand side before he found fullback Ullrich, who made an excellent run into the Union Berlin penalty area before convincingly hammering the ball home.

On a sour note in the first half, Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas was substituted in the 20th minute due to injury, being replaced by Jonas Omlin.

This did not impact the visitors, however, as Tim Kleindienst added a second for Die Fohlen in the 26th minute. The German international simply could not miss as he tapped home into an empty net from a Nathan N'goumou ball across the box.

15 minutes into the second half, Kleindienst handed a route back into the game for the hosts, after his push saw Union awarded a penalty in which Andrej Ilic converted comfortably.

Gladbach remained firm on their travels, however, taking home a much needed three points from Berlin that sees Gerardo Seoane's men move to just three points behind fourth-placed RB Leipzig.

Stuttgart 1-2 Wolfsburg

As Sebastian Hoeneß looked for his 50th win in charge of VfB Stuttgart, his side played out a cagey first half against fellow European hopefuls VfL Wolfsburg.

Neither side was able to muster a shot on goal until the 20th minute, and this energy about the game continued until the stroke of halftime when Atakan Karazor missed the biggest chance of the half, heading over from close range after a scramble in the box.

With the second half following the same pattern, it was looking very much like a moment of magic would have been needed to break the deadlock at MHPArena.

And in the 72nd minute, substitute Nick Woltemade provided exactly that.

Picking the ball up halfway into the Wolfsburg half, the German forward drove into the box before dancing through the visitors' defence and hammering home to give Die Schwaben the lead.

The lead itself would last a matter of minutes, with the match further exploding into life as ex-Stuttgart man Tiago Tomas sent the ball home in front of Stuttgart's Cannstatter Kurve, meeting a Mohamed Amoura cross. The goal itself was Wolfsburg's first shot on target.

To complete the smash and grab, Amoura would be at the heart of things again as he broke Stuttgart hearts by finding the back of the net with an 87th minute penalty awarded after a Josha Vagnoman handball.

Stuttgart will be kicking themselves after losing a second successive home match. This one, however, was firmly in the grasps of the hosts with just twenty minutes to play, leaving huge frustrations for Die Schwaben.

Ralph Hasenhüttl's Wolfsburg move up to eigth, sitting just two points behind now sixth-placed Stuttgart.

St. Pauli 0-1 Freiburg

It doesn't get as much more ‘North vs South’ in the Bundesliga than St. Pauli vs Freiburg. The visitors looked to carry momentum from their two recent wins as they travelled up to Hamburg.

And after a cagey first half, Julian Schuster's side had a perfect opportunity to open the scoring on the stroke of half time after being awarded a penalty.

The experienced Vincenzo Grifo however, will not want to rewatch what followed.

Missing his third penalty of the season, the German-born Italian winger attempted an audacious panenka, whilst St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj stood still to deny Grifo in embarrassing fashion for the Freiburg man.

It would take until the 89th minute for either side to force anything of note in the final third, and Freiburg saw themselves finally take the lead through a Christian Günter effort deflected off Philip Treu, with the goal going down as an own goal.

After a disappointing showing from both sides, Freiburg secured their third successive 1-0 win in a row.

The visitors move up to fifth, just a single point behind the all-important Champions League places.