Cologne wins Conference League game delayed a day by fog

UKERSKÉ HRADIŠTĚ, Czech Republic (AP) — After a day's delay caused by thick fog, Cologne beat Slovácko 1-0 in the Europa Conference League on Friday.

The start on Thursday night at Czech team Slovácko's stadium was put off twice in the hope the fog might clear. When it finally got under way that evening, referee Giorgi Kruashvili abandoned the match after six minutes because visibility was poor.

The game restarted early Friday afternoon in much clearer conditions with a throw-in and the clock set to 7 minutes 1 second.

Ondrej Duda scored the only goal from an 82nd-minute penalty after a foul by midfielder Michal Kohút.

Another Cologne player, Florian Kainz, saw an earlier penalty saved.

The final whistle sounded almost exactly 20 hours after the game was originally scheduled to start. Cologne is third in Group D, one point behind joint leaders Nice and Partizan Belgrade, and will qualify with a win over Nice next week. The loss ended Slovácko's qualifying chances.

Cologne said Thursday it was in talks with the German league about whether its game against Hoffenheim on Sunday could be moved.

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