FC Koln have defeated Hoffenheim 3-2 in their Bundesliga clash despite playing the final 20 minutes of the game with 10 men.
The home side were presented with the chance to take the lead midway through the first half when Yuya Osako was brought down in the penalty area by Ermin Bicakcic. Matthias Lehmann took the spot kick and fired the ball past Oliver Baumann.
Koln had to wait until the second half to double their lead as Osako was once again pivotal in the build-up as he found Anthony Ujah, who blasted a strike past Baumann into the top corner.
However, Hoffenheim were to get back into the game when Pawel Olkowski was sent off for violent conduct as he fouled Anthony Modeste in the box. Eugen Polanski had no problem dispatching the resulting spot kick to bring the visitors back into the game.
Jonas Hector looked to have ended these hopes when he put the home side 3-1 ahead as he weaved his way through the Hoffenheim defence and bundled the ball past Baumann to put his team in control of the match.
The visitors hit back once more as Modeste latched onto a cross from Sebastian Rudy to power a header past Timo Horn to keep the visitors' hopes of earning a point alive.
Both Modeste and Steven Zuber had opportunities late in the game to rescue a draw for Hoffenheim, but neither were able to beat Horn as the home side held out for the three points.
The result moves Koln up to 11th in the Bundesliga table, while Hoffenheim stay in seventh, two points adrift of the final Europa League spot.
Simon Sinclair
