Nine-man Cologne made sure Christian Clemens' goal was decisive as they beat 10-man Hertha Berlin 1-0 in a feisty Bundesliga relegation battle.
Clemens scored the only goal of the game in the 36th minute before Cologne went a man down in the 66th minute as Mato Jajalo was red-carded.
Then both teams saw a man get sent off in the 76th minute - Levan Kobiashvili for Berlin and Lukas Podolski of Cologne.
Cologne picked up their first home point in 2012, ending a four-game losing streak and collecting just their second win in the last 10 games.
Berlin suffered a seventh defeat in their last eight games with just one win in their last 13.
Cologne had the first chance after six minutes with Slawomir Peszko blasting just left from a tight angle.
The hosts continued to push forward but Milivoje Novakovic headed over the crossbar from five yards in the 20th minute and then headed wide left from six yards out seven minutes later.
Berlin finally had a chance after 31 minutes but Cologne keeper Michael Rensing made a superb stop from Roman Hubnik's header.
Cologne took the lead in the 36th minute as Hubnik's clearance landed at the feet of Miso Brecko who fed Clemens and he blasted in from 14 yards out.
Novakovic's struggles in front of goal continued as he was stopped when one-on-one with Berlin keeper Thomas Kraft after a long run five minutes before the break.
Berlin nearly equalised three minutes later but Rensing kept out Pierre-Michel Lasogga's header and Geromel cleared the loose ball at the line.
Novakovic's frustration continued as his header was batted away superbly by Kraft in the 53rd minute and the same player put a header just wide left nine minutes later.
Jajalo had Cologne's next chance in the 64th minute, shooting just wide left from 20 yards.
And then Croatian Jajalo was sent off in the 66th minute - eight minutes after coming on as a substitute - for his challenge on Kobiashvili.
The game saw two more players get sent off in the 76th minute, Kobiashvili for two yellows after a foul and the ensuing dispute with Podolski, who was red-carded by referee Guido Winkmann.
Berlin tried to grab the equaliser but Rensing kept out Raffael's shot in the 87th minute and watched as Anis Ben-Hatira shot just wide from five yards out in the 89th minute and Adrian Ramos hit the post a minute later.
