BERLIN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Andrej Kramaric's brace was enough for Hoffenheim to increase Nuremberg's relegation worries in the 25th round of Bundesliga action on Sunday.
The hosts thought they had a golden chance to break the deadlock with just four minutes played after the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
However, the video assistant referee intervened and disallowed the foul play penalty, as Ewerton did not foul Andrej Kramaric inside the box.
Nuremberg staged a well-positioned defense and kept the hosts on the distance. The hosts nevertheless opened the scoring in the 24th minutes as Kramaric converted a handball play penalty from the spot.
Hoffenheim should have added another goal to their lead before the break but Ishak Belfodil rattled only the woodwork from a promising position in the 33rd minute before Pavel Kaderabek missed the ball from three meters in the 42nd minute.
The visitors punished Hoffenheim's laxness in front of the goal after the restart when Hanno Behrens benefitted on Mikael Ishak's assist to restore parity in the 61st minute.
Julian Nagelsmann's men increased the pressure but they had to wait until the 78th minute before Kramaric was able to nutmeg Nuremberg goalkeeper Christian Mathenia from close range to seal the deal.
With the result, Hoffenheim climb to the eighth place of the standings after reaping the ninth win of the season, while Nuremberg suffered their third straight defeat to stay in the Bundesliga bottom.
"I am satisfied with the first half as we set Nuremberg under pressure. In the second half we did not gain a foothold into the game. It was a lucky win today," Hoffenheim head coach Julian Nagelsmann said.
"It is a deserved win for Hoffenheim. We lacked in courage in the first half but in the second half we staged a better performance," Nuremberg head coach Boris Schommers said.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen overpowered resilient Hannover 3-2 as Kevin Volland's brace helped the "Werkself" to secure their second win in row.
Newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf encounter Eintracht Frankfurt to conclude the 25th round on Monday.
