Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen down Koln, St.Pauli win relegation zone clash

Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 FC Koln

Bayer Leverkusen secured a tough victory over Koln in their Bundesliga clash at the BayArena on Saturday thanks to two second half strikes.

The home side dominated possession from the onset, with Christian Michel Kofane being denied of the opener following a great save from Marvin Schwabe in the ninth minute.

Leverkusen continued applying the pressure but failed to score in the first half despite Jonas Hofmann coming close to breaking the deadlock on a few occasions.

Koln made three substitutions at the break, but the home team almost scored immediately after the restart with Malik Tillman and Ibrahim Maza squandering chances.

Substitute Martin Terrier finally opened the score for Leverkusen in the 65th minute after a clinical finish to a Arthur assist.

Robin Ainrich doubled the lead six minutes later with a powerful header to end a two-match losing streak despite a spirited fight in the final period from Koln.

FC St.Pauli 2-1 Heidenheim

Ten-man St.Pauli overcame fellow Bundesliga strugglers Heidenheim in a tense battle at the Millerntor Stadion in Hamburg.

The home team took the lead in the 35th minute through Martijn Kaars following a short period of sustained attacks against the Heidenheim defence.

However, the joy was short-lived as Eric Smith was shown a straight red card at the stroke of half time for serious foul play.

Heidenheim came out showing intent to use their numerical advantage, with Julian Niehues and Stefan Schimmer almost equalizing shortly after the restart.

St. Pauli then doubled their lead through Kaars after yet another fine assist from Joel Chima Fujita in the 53rd minute before Heidenheim's Marvin Pieringer pulled one back ten minutes later.

The home side managed to hold on for an important victory that saw them move above Heidenheim to 16 on the Bundesliga table.

Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Augsburg

Eintracht Frankfurt edge Augsburg thanks to a solitary Ritsu Doan second half goal as they bounced back from defeat in their last Bundesliga clash.

The drama began as early as the fifth minute when VAR disallowed a goal for Augsburg before Frankfurt came close through Ansgar Knauff in a tense half.

Frankfurt took the lead through Ritsu Doan after an assist from substitute Oscar Hojlund in the 68th minute, with the goal standing following a VAR review.

Augsburg thought they had equalized in the 85th minute but another VAR review backed the referee's original decision to not allow the goal to stand.

Elsewhere, a rampant Hoffenheim secured a comfortable 4-1 victory against Hamburger SV at the PreZero Arena on Saturday.

Two goals on either side of half time for the home side helped the home side to cement their fifth spot on the Bundesliga table, whilst pushing Hamburger down into 14th spot.

The visitors grabbed a late consolation goal through Rayan Philippe who then missed a penalty in additional time.

Meanwhile, at Borussia-Park, Borussia Monchengladbach went down 3-1 to Wolfsburg, with all four goals being scored in the first half of the match.

The visitors had taken the lead through Patrick Wimmer in the 4th minute before Monchengladbach forced Konstantinos Koulierakis to score an own goal for the equalizer.

Two quick goals from Mohammed Amoura and Wimmer at the half hour mark put Wolfsburg firmly in the driving seat heading into half-time.

Both teams had goals ruled out by VAR in the second half as the score remained unchanged to help move Wolfsburg to 13th on the table.

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