Paolo Guerrero grabbed a late winner as Hamburg pulled further clear of relegation trouble with a 1-0 victory at Cologne.
Guerrero finished neatly, clipping the ball over home goalkeeper Michael Rensing with two minutes to go after latching on to Mladen Petric's pass.
Tenth-placed Hamburg remain upwardly mobile under new coach Thorsten Fink, moving above Cologne who are six points above the bottom three.
Augsburg and Nurnberg played out a goalless draw in a Bavarian derby - a result which hardly helps either side in their respective battles against the drop.
The fear of losing appeared to outweigh the ambition of winning as both sides settled for a point in a cagey encounter, despite a late flurry of chances.
Augsburg created the better opportunities, but were unable to warm up their fans with an all-important goal as the point leaves them inside the bottom two.
Nurnberg managed to pull a point further clear of Hertha Berlin, but the relegation zone lurks just four points below them.
