Kagawa gives Dortmund 1-0 win over Werder

Shinji Kagawa marks his birthday with winning goal, giving defending Bundesliga champion and front-runner Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday

Kagawa scored on the day he turned 23 to extend Dortmund's unbeaten streak to a club-record 20 matches. His goal in the eighth minute means Dortmund will remain at least five points ahead of Bayern Munich, which plays Hertha Berlin later.
Borussia Moenchengladbach won 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen to reaffirm its claim for a place in the Champions League next season and Hamburger SV fell to its third consecutive defeat by losing 3-1 at home to Freiburg.
Patrick Helmes scored twice to help Wolfsburg rally past Nuremberg 3-1 and Augsburg edged Mainz 2-1 in other matches.
In Dortmund, the home side missed several chances to score more goals against a Bremen side weakened by the absence of several regulars through suspension or injury.
The only goal came early when Kevin Grosskreutz crossed to the far side and Ilkay Guendogan sent the ball back across the goal for Kagawa to head into the net unchallenged.
The Japan midfielder nearly doubled the lead in the 24th but goalkeeper Sebastian Mielitz palmed the ball onto the post.
Sebastian Kehl headed against the crossbar in the 35th to waste another Dortmund opportunity.
Kagawa shot wide in the 55th from an open position and Robert Lewandowski also missed the target. Bremen made it more of a contest in the second half but failed to create any real chances.
In Leverkusen, Marco Reus took advantage of a defensive lapse by the home side to put Moenchengladbach ahead after seven minutes.
Stefan Kiessling leveled the score in the 75th after Juan Arango's clearance fell kindly for the striker but Reus then provided a perfectly timed pass for substitute Igor de Camargo, who rounded goalkeeper Bernd Leno to score the winner in the 88th.
Moenchengladbach is third, 11 points ahead of fifth-place Leverkusen. Schalke, which plays Sunday at Kaiserslautern, is four points behind Moenchengladbach.
Wolfsburg fell behind in Nuremberg to Daniel Didavi's goal in the ninth, but Mario Mandzukic leveled the match in the 15th and then set up both goals by Helmes either side of halftime.
It was the first win on the road for Felix Magath's side in 11 matches and improved its hopes of reaching next season's Europa League, the declared goal of the 2009 champion.
Augsburg and Freiburg, two teams seeking to avoid relegation, notched important wins.
Johannes Flum, Daniel Caligiuri and Cedrick Makiadi scored in Hamburg before Ivo Ilicevic netted the consolation for the home side.
Augsburg rallied to beat Mainz, which went ahead on Sami Allagui's strike in the 36th. But Koo Ja-cheol put Augsburg back in the match with a spectacular volley in the 43rd and Sebastian Langkamp sealed the win in the 51st.
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