Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida hit a brace from close range on 34 and 49 minutes to earn the home side a deserved win.

Over the past weeks, Bremen ousted Hamburg from the UEFA Cup and German Cup semi-finals.

On losing the game, Martin Jol's team dropped to sixth place with 55 points, five behind leaders VFL Wolfsburg with three matches to go. Bremen remain 10th with 42 points.

Influential playmaker Diego and defender Per Mertesacker didn't feature for the hosts, who were by far dominant throughout the game.

Almeida opened the scoring after connecting with Markus Rosenberg's low cross, and doubled the lead four minutes after the restart when he cannoned home a Mesut Ozil cross.

Meanwhile, Monchengladbach snatched a narrow 1-0 win over Schalke 04, thanks to a last-gasp Roberto Colautti strike.