Cologne battle to draw
Published 19:41 06/12/09 By Pa Sports
A fighting Cologne slowed down Werder Bremen's high-octane attacking play to earn a valuable point with a 0-0 draw in their fight against relegation while Bremen missed a chance to close in on the leaders.
Cologne had the better of the chances despite having the worst goal-scoring record in the league.
Werder came into the game with 12 goals in their last three contests but could only draw in Cologne to move to 28 points in second place - three points behind Bayer Leverkusen.
Schalke moved up to third in the Bundesliga thanks to a workmanlike performance in beating struggling Hertha Berlin 2-0.
Kevin Kuranyi's 100th Bundesliga goal put the Royal Blues in front on the hour mark and a stoppage-time penalty from Rafinha sealed the win.
Berlin put up a brave fight as they went down to their 12th defeat of the season with Adrian Ramos missing a glorious opportunity to earn them a draw, but it was not their night as they also lost Christoph Janker to a late red card.
The defeat means Hertha Berlin will certainly end 2009 at the foot of the table since they trail 17th-placed Nurnberg by seven points with just two games remaining.
