Hoffenheim's Christoph Baumgartner scored a brace in the 3-1 win against Cologne on Wednesday. - Reuters
Berlin - They snapped a seven-game winless run in the Bundesliga
Published: Fri 29 May 2020, 1:10 AM
Updated: Thu 28 May 2020, 3:23 AM
Christoph Baumgartner scored two goals and set up a third as Hoffenheim snapped a seven-game winless run in the Bundesliga with an entertaining 3-1 victory over visitors Cologne on Wednesday which both teams ended with 10 men.
Hoffenheim moved back into European contention in seventh place on 39 points with six games left in the season which restarted 11 days ago after a break of more than two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
All matches are played without spectators to minimise the risk of infection.
"Two goals and an assist is obviously a good day at work," Baumgartner said. "But what's more important are the three points and we really fought for them."
The 20-year-old Baumgartner scored early in the first half with Hoffenheim in control and Cologne down to 10 men after 26 minutes when Sebastiaan Bornauw was sent off with a red card for a violent challenge.
The Austrian scored again a minute after the restart and laid off beautifully with a flick for Steven Zuber to hit their third goal in the 48th as the hosts looked to be cruising to victory.
But the numerical balance was restored two minutes later when Benjamin Huebner got his marching orders following a second booking for a clumsy foul on Cologne's Dominick Drexler.
The visitors pulled a goal back through Florian Kainz's deflected shot on the hour and could have scored again but Mark Uth's penalty was saved by Oliver Baumann.
Schalke slump again
Schalke are winless in 10 games as their free fall down the table continued with a 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Fortuna Duesseldorf.
US midfielder Weston McKennie gave Schalke the lead just after the break with a diving header, but Fortuna hit back with two goals in five minutes from Rouwen Hennings and Kenan Karaman.
Schalke's third straight defeat leaves them ninth having been third in December.
Cologne striker Mark Uth failed to convert a penalty for the second game in a row in his side's 3-1 defeat at Hoffenheim as both teams finished with ten men.
Bottom side Paderborn earned a point in a goalless draw at Augsburg, while mid-table Union Berlin drew 1-1 with Mainz in the capital.