St Pauli concedes late penalty to tie at home with Cologne

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Karol Mets scored his first Bundesliga goal and conceded a penalty with seven minutes left as St. Pauli drew with visiting Cologne 1-1 and missed the chance to snap a six-game winless streak on Friday.

St. Pauli had the best of the chances but was beset again by a familiar failing in the final third that has made it the league's lowest scoring club.

It wasn’t until the 69th minute that Mets put it ahead with a header. The Hamburg side was close to a vital win to avoid relegation until Mets felled Jakub Kaminski inside the box in the 83rd minute and the penalty kick saw Luca Waldschmidt sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

St. Pauli stayed third from last in the relegation playoff spot. It was two points behind Werder Bremen.

Nevertheless, the Hamburg club did move five points clear of second-to-last Wolfsburg, which is struggling to avoid relegation for the first time since 1997.

The bottom two go down automatically and the third-from-bottom club goes into a relegation playoff.

Cologne, whose striker Ragnar Ache was forced off with a thigh injury, climbed one spot into 12th.

___

APsoccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer