BERLIN (AP) — Cologne beat 10-man Werder Bremen 3-1 on Sunday, leaving the visiting team just outside the relegation zone and allaying Bundesliga relegation fears.
Cologne suffered a 2-2 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, but it was their first win under caretaker manager René Wagner. Wagner was handed command for the remainder of the season. Cologne sack coach Lukas Kwasniok March 22nd.
Cologne’s young star Said El Mara converted an early penalty and Bremen’s hopes suffered a further blow in the 24th minute when captain Marco Friedl was sent off for bringing down Ragnar Aceh when the Cologne forward scored.
Aceh had to wait until the 65th to score on their third try. Cenk Ozkacar’s shot hit the post and Mio Backhaus saved Aceh’s shot from the rebound, but Aceh scored from the next shot.
Aceh then conceded a penalty for a foul on Olivier Deman, which Romano Schmidt gratefully converted inside the left post in the 76th minute, making for an exciting finale until Isak Bergman-Johannesson finally settled it on the counter-attack in the final play of the match.
The move moves Cologne five points above the relegation zone, while Bremen are just three points clear of danger with five matches remaining. It was a poor result for Wolfsburg and Heidenheim in the bottom two, with a difference of seven and nine points respectively.
After Thursday’s wins in the Conference League and Europa League, Stuttgart’s Champions League qualification rests on the line against Hamburger SV, before Mainz host Freiburg for a showdown between Europe’s top contenders.
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