Hoffenheim, Cologne fail to jump to third place in German Bundesliga

Wolfsburg came from behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1, while Cologne lost 2-1 to newly-promoted Freiburg to complete the 20th round of Bundesliga action on Sunday.

Hoffenheim gave away a narrow 1-0 lead as Maximilian Arnold and substitute Daniel Didavi turned the tides in favour of the Wolves.

The visitors from Hoffenheim grabbed a better start going into the encounter as Nadiem Amiri came close in the first minute before Kerem Demirbay rattled the woodwork following a free kick in the 16th minute.

The efforts from Julian Nagelsmann's men paid off with 26 minutes played when Demirbay's through ball allowed Steven Zuber to slot home the opener from sharp angle.

After the restart, Wolfsburg turned up but Mario Gomez was unable to overcome Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann early in the game.

Maximilian Arnold cut a better figure in front of the visitor's goal as he hammered home a clearance from 18 meters to level the score five minutes into the second half. It was Wolfsburg's 600th goal on home soil in their Bundesliga history.

Hoffenheim pressed frenetically for the winner, but Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio defused a number of promising opportunities.

With this, Wolfsburg punished Hoffenheim's poor chance conversion and completed the comeback in the 73rd minute through substitute Daniel Didavi, who poked home a rebound from close range to put the result beyond doubt.

Despite the win, Wolfsburg stay in 14th place, whereas Hoffenheim failed to jump to 3rd, remaining 5th on the table.

Elsewhere, Cologne's unbeaten streak came to an end after Freiburg scored twice to secure a 2-1 victory.

The visitors broke the deadlock 32 minutes into the game when Vincenzo Grifo overcame Cologne custodian Thomas Kessler with a deflected shot from the edge of the box.

Cologne remained unimpressed and responded only six minutes later as Anthony Modeste provided his 16th goal of the season to restore parity.

However, the hosts had the last laugh as Maximilian Philipp tapped home a rebound following a free kick from Grifo, to make the game safe in the 77th minute.

Cologne stay on 7th place having missed the chance to climb into the top three, meanwhile Freiburg remain on 8th position.

source: Xinhua