Freiburg third after beating Union, Leverkusen beat Cologne in derby

BERLIN: Freiburg kept hot on the heels of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund with a comfortable 2-0 home win over lowly Union Berlin to return to third in the Bundesliga table on Sunday, while Bayer Leverkusen sunk derby rivals Cologne.

Freiburg pressured Union captain Rani Khedira into an own goal nine minutes after half-time and Yuito Suzuki scored another as the hosts won despite their own skipper Vincenzo Grifo missing a penalty.

Last season's beaten Europa League finalists are third on 19 points, two behind Bayern and Dortmund with the Bavarians ahead on goal difference.

"We knew our chances would come and we managed to convert them well," Freiburg winger Derry Scherhant told DAZN.

After an even first-half, Freiburg were impressive after the break and forced a last-ditch intervention from Khedira, who knocked the ball into his own net.

Scherhant chipped for Suzuki to score with 67 minutes gone. The Black Forest side may have won by a higher margin were it not for Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow, who kept out Grifo's 84th-minute penalty and made a number of other saves.

Earlier on Sunday, goals from Aleix Garcia and Patrik Schick took Bayer Leverkusen to a tense 2-1 derby win at Cologne which lifted the visitors to fifth in the table.

The fiery encounter produced 11 yellow cards, including six for the home side.

One of several derbies in Germany's football-mad north-west, Cologne and Leverkusen are just 10 kilometres (six miles) apart.

The travelling support teased the hosts with chants referring to the 2023-24 season, when Leverkusen won their maiden Bundesliga title and Cologne were relegated.

Leverkusen broke the deadlock just seven minutes in when Garcia's free-kick flew over the wall and into the top-left corner, with a helpless Cologne goalie Marvin Schwaebe watching on.

Just before the break, the Spaniard found Jarell Quansah in space but the England centre-back headed just wide.

Well handled by the Leverkusen defence, the hosts grew increasingly frustrated, picking up five of their six yellow cards in the second-half.

Schick had a goal ruled out for handball with ten minutes to go but broke through just five minutes later, slotting in on the counter for an eighth goal in nine league appearances this season.

Germany winger Said El Mala scored one of his own in stoppage time but the goal came too late to launch a Cologne comeback and left the hosts stranded in 15th, two points above Union who sit in the relegation play-off spot.

In Sunday's late game, Hoffenheim won 2-1 at promoted Schalke, with Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle getting on the scoresheet for the hosts. --AFP