Cologne wins Bundesliga relegation duel 3-1 against 10-man Werder Bremen

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BERLIN (AP) — Cologne eased its Bundesliga relegation worries on Sunday with a 3-1 win over 10-man Werder Bremen that left the visiting team just outside the drop zone.

It's Cologne's first win under interim coach René Wagner after a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on his debut last weekend. Wagner has been handed the reins for the rest of the season after Cologne fired Lukas Kwasniok as coach on March 22.

Cologne's young star Said El Mala converted an early penalty and Bremen’s hopes took another blow in the 24th minute when captain Marco Friedl was sent off for bringing down Ragnar Ache as the Cologne forward was through on goal.

Ache had to wait until the 65th before scoring at the third attempt. Cenk Özkacar’s effort came off the post and Mio Backhaus saved Ache’s shot from the rebound, but Ache scored from the next.

Ache then conceded a penalty for a foul on Olivier Deman, and Romano Schmid gratefully swept the penalty inside the left post in the 76th for an exciting finale until Isak Bergmann Johannesson finally settled the result on a counterattack during the last play of the game.

It meant Cologne moved five points above the relegation zone, while Bremen is just three points clear of danger with five rounds remaining. It was a bad result for the bottom two, Wolfsburg and Heidenheim, now seven and nine points adrift, respectively.

Stuttgart’s bid for Champions League qualification was on the line later against visiting Hamburger SV before Mainz hosts Freiburg for a duel between European contenders after their victories Thursday in the Conference League and Europa League.

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