Werder Bremen’s Austrian trio scored all three goals as the hosts stunned second-placed RB Leipzig 3-0 on Saturday to continue their sensational recovery with their fourth win in five matches.
Zlatko Junuzovic was on target in the 34th minute and set up fellow countryman Florian Grillitsch with a well-studied free kick move just before the hour.
Substitute Florian Kainz netted their third goal two minutes after coming on in the 88th as the former German champions moved up to 13th place, three points away from the relegation playoff spot.
It was yet another miserable afternoon for promoted Leipzig, who had taken the Bundesliga by storm earlier this season but have now managed just two wins in their last seven games.
They remain second on 49 points, with leaders Bayern Munich, 10 points clear, facing Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
Third-placed Dortmund closed to within three points of Leipzig after their lacklustre 1-0 win over Ingolstadt on Friday.
Leipzig playmaker Emil Forsberg should have done better in the 26th when he was sent through but his low drive sailed narrowly wide of Felix Wiedwald’s goal.
Junuzovic did not miss when he picked up a lose ball 25 metres out and thundered an unstoppable left-footed shot past helpless keeper Peter Gulacsi.
The visitors came close when Marcel Sabitzer rattled the post with his shot and the ball rolled along the goalmouth to safety.
It was the hosts who scored again, though, when Junuzovic, instead of floating a free kick into the box, found Grillitsch with a clever low pass and the 21-year-old grabbed his second goal of the season before Kainz made sure of the three points.
Forward Sandro Wagner ended his 519-minute goal drought to help Hoffenheim edge past Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 and move a point behind Dortmund in fourth.
Anthony Modeste scored his second hat-trick of the season to help Cologne beat Hertha Berlin 4-2 with the Frenchman now on 22 goals, one behind leading scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund.
Striker Mario Gomez was on target again in VfL Wolfsburg’s 1-0 win over last-placed Darmstadt, scoring in the club’s third straight game under new coach Andries Jonker.
Gomez has now netted in eight consecutive matches he has played under Jonker, five of them when the Dutchman was interim coach at Bayern Munich at the end of the 2010/11 season. The win lifted the Wolves into 15th.