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

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 was Cologne's first win under interim coach René Wagner after a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on his debut last weekend. Wagner was 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 Ozkacar’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.

Champions League calling for Stuttgart

Stuttgart eased to a 4-0 win at home over Hamburger SV to reclaim third place from Leipzig on goal difference.

Germany forward Deniz Undav missed a late penalty minutes before substitute Bilal El Khannouss completed the scoring in the 86th.

Angelo Stiller, Chris Fuhrich and Maximilian Mittelstadt were the other scorers as Stuttgart stayed four points clear of fifth-place Bayer Leverkusen. The top four qualify for the Champions League.

Mainz hosts Freiburg later for a duel between European contenders after their victories Thursday in the Conference League and Europa League.

Bayern has title in sight

Bayern Munich can clinch the title as early as next Sunday at home against Stuttgart if second-place Borussia Dortmund drops more points at Hoffenheim the day before.

Bayern, which broke its own goals record on Saturday, leads Dortmund by 12 points with five rounds remaining.

Union makes history

Also Saturday, Union Berlin fired Steffen Baumgart as coach and gave the job to Marie-Louise Eta for the rest of the season, making her the first female head coach in men’s soccer in the Bundesliga and across the top divisions of Europe’s “big five” leagues.

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