Freiburg left it late to beat Fortuna Dusseldorf this afternoon and bundled home a winning goal three minutes from time to go fifth in the Bundesliga.

The home side shaded a tight first half and should have taken the lead when Cedric Makiadi had a strong effort saved from close range by Fabian Giefer.

Freiburg continued to press the action after the break but were nearly stung on the counter by Andreas Lambertz, but the winger had his low strike palmed away by Oliver Baumann.

The visitors continued to look dangerous on the break but refused to commit bodies forward in search of an unlikely winner.

Dusseldorf looked comfortable in the closing stages but switched off from a corner and allowed Pavel Krmas to beat Giefer with a powerful header three minutes from time.

Giefer made a fine save in stoppage time to tip Max Kruse's shot onto the post as Freiburg stayed strong to secure their first league win of 2013.