Simon Rolfes grabbed the lead for Leverkusen early in the 8th minute before Paul Freier ensured the win in the 77th minute.

The result maintained Hamburg's second place in Bundesliga table with 75 points, four adrift of leaders Bayern, who play Mainz on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Florian Kringe scored twice to help Borussia Dortmund edge Nurnberg 2-1 at home.

Marek Nikl's strike in the 29th minute cancelled out Kringe's opener in the 19th minute before he sealed the win himself in the 76th minute.

In other matches, Wolfsburg beat Arminia Bielefeld 1-0, Borussia Monchengladbach tied Hertha Berlin 2-2, Cologne defeated MSV Duisburg 3-1, Hannover edged Kaiserslautern1-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt cruised past Stuttgart 2-0.