Berlin, June 2 (IANS) Timo Werner scored his 25th Bundesliga goal of the season as RB Leipzig reclaimed third place with a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Cologne in the final game of the 29th round of the season.
Timo Horn denied Werner at close quarters early on, but the opening goal fell the way of Cologne on Monday evening. The Leipzig defence was slow to react as Elvis Rexhbecaj’s low strike came back off the far post via Peter Gulacsi’s outstretched leg, and Jhon Cordoba took full advantage with a full-blooded follow-up effort into the top corner in the seventh minute of the game.
The Colombian headed straight at Horn soon after, before picking up a knee injury following a collision with Dayot Upamecano. That swung the game in Leipzig’s favour, with AS Roma loanee Patrik Schick sending a fine header from Manchester City-owned Angelino’s pin-point cross into the net for 1-1 in the 20th minute. The visitors doubled their advantage when Christopher Nkunku raced onto Konrad Laimer’s superb through-ball and clipped over Horn in the 38th minute.
Leipzig stretched their lead early in the second half with a textbook route one goal. Gulacsi claimed a Florian Kainz cross and proceeded to hoof the ball upfield for Werner. He raced clear, before slotting calmly beyond Horn.
However, five minutes later, Anthony Modeste reduced the arrears with a quite brilliant long-range effort from nothing, only for Dani Olmo to return fire with his maiden Bundesliga goal after Cologne could only half clear a corner in the 57th minute of the game.
Horn denied Werner his second goal of the contest, with Schick sending the follow-up wide, before a decision to award a penalty against Lukas Klostermann for a foul on Modeste was overruled following a VAR review.
Olmo and Werner spurned chances to add gloss to the scoreline, with Modeste following suit when one-on-one with Gulacsi, the Frenchman passing up a golden opportunity to set up a grandstand finish.
With the result, Leipzig remain third in the standings whereas Cologne stay 11th after suffering their 15th defeat of the season.
–IANS
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