Mainz 05 have moved up to 10th in the Bundesliga table with a 2-0 victory over FC Koln at the Coface Arena.
The hosts started the better of the two sides and they created a great chance to take the lead when Park Joo-Ho drifted into space before delivering a cross which Johannes Geis could only head wide.
The visiting defence continued to offer encouragement to the Mainz attack, and Shinji Okazaki threatened again when he fired a low strike a few inches wide of the post.
Koln started to ask more questions late in the first half as Mergim Mavraj sprinted into space before being denied by a fine save from Loris Karius.
Thomas Kessler then came to the rescue at the other end of the pitch with an impressive stop to keep out Julian Baumgartlinger's header.
Mainz were ahead two minutes into the second half when Okazaki climbed highest to connect with a deep cross and find Ja-Cheol Koo, who finished emphatically to leave Kessler helpless.
The hosts should have doubled their lead before the hour mark, but Kessler managed to keep out an Okazaki header before Nikolce Noveski sent the rebound wide.
It was a comfortable second half for Mainz, despite their slender advantage, as Koln struggled to force their way back into the game in the latter stages.
Mainz wrapped up the win with seven minutes of normal time remaining as an extended spell of pressure ended with the ball dropping to Jairo Samperio, who kept his composure to find the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Callum Mulvihill
