Christoph Kramer's incredible own-goal from almost halfway gifted Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach to break a five-match losing streak and lift them off the bottom.
It was Dortmund's first league win in eight matches, after nearly two months, during the worst start to a Bundesliga season in the club's history and took them out of the bottom three on Sunday.
"It's been such a long time without a win that I can hardly find the words," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
"We have finally got into double figures in terms of points.
"If that turns out to be the win which opens the floodgates, then I'll take it.
"It was an exceptional game for such a situation.
"Christoph Kramer unwittingly took his place in our little story, but he's an exceptional player and this goal will be just a side note in his life."
However the win failed to mask another poor display of finishing from Dortmund.
They again failed to transfer their stunning Champions League goal-scoring form, where they have netted 13 in four games to reach the last 16, to domestic action.
They failed to convert any of their 22 shots on goal, while restricting Gladbach to just a single chance, before Kramer's decisive error.
The German international defensive midfielder misjudged a long-range back pass from near the halfway line which went straight over the head of his goalkeeper Yann Sommer on 58 minutes.
Germany winger Marco Reus, who was outstanding throughout, almost made it 2-0 just moments later when his shot clattered the post.
The defeat was Moenchengladbach's first of the season and left leaders Bayern Munich as the only unbeaten side in the Bundesliga.
After Freiburg and Werder Bremen had both picked up wins on Saturday, Dortmund had dropped to last place for the first time in seven years, but Sunday's win gave them a valuable three points which lifted them to 15th place.
The win came at a price, however, as centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, which means he is suspended for the away match at Paderborn in a fortnight.
With captain Mats Hummels injured, Klopp will have to name a make-shift defence in that game.
- Superb passes -
Earlier, ex-Chelsea winger Kevin de Bruyne produced another top-class performance in VfL Wolfsburg's 2-0 win over strugglers Hamburg to trim Bayern Munich's lead to four points at the top.
The 23-year-old Belgium international provided superb passes for veteran striker Ivica Olic and attacking midfielder Aaron Hunt to score either side of half-time as Wolfsburg earned their eighth straight win in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola's Bayern had opened a seven-point gap after Saturday's 4-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt when Germany forward Thomas Mueller claimed a hat-trick.
Sunday saw another impressive display from De Bruyne, who also created two goals in Thursday's Europa League win at home to Russsia's Krasnodar and last week's 4-0 league win at VfB Stuttgart.
The Belgian has provided assists for nine league goals this season since joining Wolves from Stamford Bridge after a season on loan at Werder Bremen.
Werder's 2-0 win at home to VfB Stuttgart lifted them up to 16th while the visitors finish the weekend bottom of the table.
Bremen have now won their last two games under caretaker coach Viktor Skripnik as Austrian defender Sebastian Proedl and midfielder Fin Bartels scored their goals.
Hoffenheim dropped to fifth after a lively 4-3 defeat at home to Cologne while Leverkusen, who won 2-1 at Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday to stay top of their Champions League group, were held to a goalless draw at home to Mainz and drop to sixth.
Schalke are 11th after suffering their third defeat in the six matches since Robert di Matteo took charge, losing 2-0 at Freiburg thanks to goals from Christian Guenter and Jonathan Schmid.
Augsburg moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win at mid-table Paderborn as midfielder Tobias Werner scored twice while Hanover 96 are fourth after Friday's 2-0 win at Hertha Berlin.
Source: AFP