Berlin (AFP)
Hoffenheim went 2-1 on the Cologne field Friday in the advanced match of the 11th day of the German Championship and at the same time grabbed second place in the standings for other matches, Saturday and Sunday.
Dutch coach Alfred Schreuder's team won with a penalty converted by Dutch striker Jurgen Locadia in the 98th minute!
Colombian striker Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring for Cologne in the 34th minute, and Hoffenheim equalized by his Armenian Sargis Adamyan shortly after the restart (48th).
Although in bad shape, Cologne is 17th and penultimate with 7 points, three better than Paderborn, the last.
With 20 points, Hoffenheim is two lengths behind leader Mönchengladbach who hosts the Werder Bremen (12th) Sunday.
Dortmund, 3rd (19 pts) plays Saturday in Munich the "Klassiker" championship against Bayern (5th, 18 pts).
Like the big Bavarian club currently in difficulty, three other teams have 18 points and can theoretically dislodge Hoffenheim from the podium before the end of the day: Leipzig (4th) who plays at the Hertha Berlin (11th) Saturday, Freiburg who receives the Eintracht Frankfurt (8th) Sunday, and Schalke 04 which hosts the Fortuna Düsseldorf (13th) Saturday.
© 2019 AFP