Borussia Monchengladbach are just one win away from securing a place in the Champions League next season after beating Cologne 3-0.
Juan Arango gave the Foals a 1-0 advantage at half-time and two goals in as many minutes from Tony Jantschke and Marco Reus sealed the win for Lucien Favre's side, taking them seven points clear of fifth-placed Stuttgart and to within a point of Schalke in third.
Cologne remain in serious relegation danger after failing to show any signs of life in Frank Schafer's first game as coach.
They are now four points adrift of safety and just a point ahead of Hertha Berlin, with both sides now likely to decide between them who goes down automatically and who gets a second chance in a play-off.
Freiburg need just one more win to secure their Bundesliga status for another year after extending their unbeaten streak to seven games with a goalless draw against Hoffenheim.
Christian Streich's side played a confident game, but rarely posed a goalscoring threat while Hoffenheim appeared happy to take a draw which keeps them in the hunt for a place in the Europa League next season.
Update:
Hello, regular commenting on Orange News and Sport pages closes on Thursday 30 May 2013. We will continue to provide a commenting facility on major news and sport events on orangeworld.co.uk. Contact us via http://oran.ge/OWfeedback if you have any further questions. Thanks.
