Hamburg win, Cologne relegated in German Bundesliga

Hamburg secured a crucial victory in a relegation battle after beating struggling Wolfsburg 3-1 while Cologne were officially relegated following a 2-3 defeat to Freiburg at the 32nd round in Bundesliga.

Hamburg on Saturday secured their second straight win after moving 3-1 past Wolfsburg with goals from Bobby Wood, Lewis Holtby and Luca Waldschmidt, reports Xinhua news agency.

Both sides started highly motivated and ensured a lively opening period with chances at both ends of the pitch.

Wolfsburg's Renato Steffen came close to opening the scoring but he missed the target from five meters before Bobby Wood's lob was cleared in the last moment.

The opener came out of thin air as Bobby Wood converted a foul play penalty in the 43rd minute.

Within minutes, things went from bad to worse for the "Wolves" as Tatsuya Ito's cross into the box found Lewis Holtby, who nodded home to double the lead in the closing period of the first half.

After the restart, Hamburg retracted with the two-goal lead and let Wolfsburg do the work. The

"Wolves" had to wait until the 78th minute before Josip Brekalo's free kick reduced the deficit.

Wolfsburg sniffed a chance to grab a draw and threw everything up front. They efforts got punished though as William fouled Waldschmidt inside the box to cause a penalty.

Casteels saved Kostic's attempt from the spot but Waldschmidt poked home the rebound to make it 3-1 in the dying seconds of the game.

With the result, 17th-placed Hamburg have raised hopes to maintain their top-flight status. Wolfsburg slipped to 15th.

Cologne were relegated into the second division after losing 2-3 to Freiburg, who eased their relegation worries with the hard-earned victory.

The "Billy Goats", who were in need of a victory to maintain their minimum chance, grabbed the worst possible start into the encounter as Nils Petersen broke the deadlock for Freiburg after heading home a cross with 14 minutes played.

The visitors were shocked and gave Freiburg a golden chance to double their advantage as Marco Hoeger felled Petersen inside the box. Christian Guenter wasted the awarded penalty with a weak shot as custodian Timo Horn was on guard in the 23rd minute.

Cologne lacked penetration while the hosts remained wasteful at the finish. Things changed after the restart as Freiburg found the back of the goal again when Petersen rounded Horn to slot home the 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute.

Stefan Ruthenbeck's men gained a late foothold into the match as Leonardo Bittencourt volleyed home Jorge Mere's cross to pull one back out of the blue in the 82nd minute.

Cologne increased the pressure and they were able to restore parity after Bittencourt wrapped up his brace by header five minutes later. However, it was a short-lived joy as Freiburg had the last laugh when Lucas Hoeler killed the game in the closing period.

With the defeat, last-placed Cologne were relegated for the sixth time in the club's history while 14th-positioned Freiburg took crucial points in the relegation battle.

In the other match, Stuttgart defated Bayer Leverkusen 1-0. Christian Gentner's sole goal helped the "Swabians" to seal the second straight victory as Bayer Leverkusen failed to make the most of many promising chances

--IANS

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