With 82 minutes played Bayern were locked 0-0 with relegation candidates Rostock but French international Willy Sagnol, who wanted to leave the club in the close season, broke the resistance with a header and substitute Mehmet Scholl added a second three minutes later.

Saturday's victory comes on the back of two straight defeats for Bayern who move up to third with the three points.

"The sense of relief is enormous," confessed Bayern chief Felix Magath.

"The team somehow managed to pull themselves together after the (Sammy) Kuffour sending off.

"I would not go as far as saying our victory was a fair result."

VfL Wolfsburg returned to the summit with a 3-0 triumph over VfL Bochum although VfB Stuttgart can replace them if they collect at least a point in Sunday's match at SC Freiburg.

At the bottom end of the Bundesliga ladder Thomas Doll enjoyed his first game in charge of SV Hamburg with his team recording a 2-1 triumph over Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalen Stadium.

"For myself and the team this was a new beginning," explained Doll.

"The team battled for their lives and had the slice of luck that they deserved."

Hamburg move off bottom spot and out of the relegation zone leapfrogging 2002 champions Dortmund who are now fifth from bottom.

After failing to score in their previous two matches against Schalke 04 and Juventus, Bayern hoped for a comfortable win against Hansa but their lack of firepower was underlined once again.

Deprived of injured trio Michael Ballack, Ze Roberto and Lucio the Bavarian titans lacked the killer instinct in front of goal with Torsten Frings and Roy Makaay both spurning good opportunities.

Bayern should have had a penalty in the 20th minute when David Rasmussen brought down Frings in the penalty area but their claims were turned down.

Rasmussen must have thought the gods were smiling down on him but that hope vanished when referee Lutz Wagner dismissed him in the 37th minute for a fierce tackle.

Bayern could not breach the ten-men of Rostock and in fact Hansa drew strength from playing with one man fewer testing Bayern custodian Oliver Kahn several times.

Munich's Ghana defender Sammy Kuffour was then dismissed in the 75th minute for an ugly foul to even the numbers up and bizarrely it appeared to help Bayern who scored seven minutes later through Sagnol.

The French defender latched onto a Scholl cross to head home before the veteran midfielder capped a fine substitute appearance with a goal himself.

Dortmund's Westfalen Stadium was a fortress last season but the gate looks to have been left open for this campaign with Hamburg taking the spoils with a 2-0 victory.

Belgian international Emile Mpenza scored a ninth minute opener to the delight of new coach Doll and David Jarolim wrapped up the points in the 70th minute.

Dortmund have won just one league match in nine outings and their Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk is feeling the heat.

"You can sense how unsure the team are and only a win will get rid of that," added van Marwijk.

"We have to be realistic and acknowledge we are now in a relegation battle."

Elsewhere German champions Werder Bremen bounced back from successive league defeats to crush FC Nuremberg 4-1 at the Weserstadion.

Werder followed up their midweek Champions League victory over Anderlecht with another three points thanks to goals from Ivan Klasnic (13), Frenchman Johan Micoud (18), Christian Schulz (75) and Fabian Ernst (88).

The double winners lie fourth six points adrift of Wolfsburg.