Cologne, Stuttgart reap vital points in German Bundesliga

Ten-man Cologne overpowered Hoffenheim 3-2 to grab vital points in the relegation battle while Bremen lost to last placed Stuttgart 3-2 to close the 28th round of Bundesliga on Sunday.

With the eight win of the season newly promoted Cologne grabbed three vital points in the relegation battle as they defeated seventh placed Hoffenheim 3-2 on home soil.

From the kick off both sides staged an offensively minded encounter hence Hoffenheim's Robert Firmino rattled the right post with just seconds into the game.

However, despite many chances on both sides of the pitch a foul play penalty for Cologne broke the deadlock at the 20th minute. Cologne's Matthias Lehmann stepped up and converted the penalty into the center of the goal.

With the goal behind Cologne retracted whereas Hoffenheim tried to overcome the host's bulwark. Yet, Cologne came closer to double the lead when Anthony Ujah struck the right post from inside the box just before the break.

Ujah cut a better figure in front of Hoffenheim's goal after the restart when he remained cool with just goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to beat, doubling the lead at the 54th minute.

It looked like Cologne would cruise to an easy win but things turned out to be different when Pawel Olkowski saw a straight red card and caused a penalty for a professional foul. Hoffenheim's Eugen Polanski stepped up and reduced the arrears to 2-1 at the 70th minute.

Hoffenheim gained momentum but it were the hosts who extended the lead against the run of the game when Jonas Hector's solo run and goal made it 3-1 on the scoreboards at the 78th minute. Resilient Hoffenheim kept it bowling and got rewarded with just two minutes remaining as Anthony Modeste headed home a corner.

However, the remaining two minutes were not enough as Cologne jumped from the 13th to the 11th place, establishing a six-point gap to the drop zone. Meanwhile Hoffenheim remain on the 7th place by suffering their 11th loss of the season.

Elsewhere, last positioned Stuttgart climbed out of the Bundesliga bottom when they downed Bremen 3-2 thanks to Daniel Ginczek's brace.

Bremen staged a resilient performance as they leveled the scores twice but 10-man Stuttgart responded in the dying minutes of the game as Ginczek utilized a through ball by Serey Die to kill the game with the 3-2 lead.

The vital victory move Stuttgart from the 18th to the 17th place with 26 points while Bremen remain on the 9th place with 35 points. Endite