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BREMEN, Germany (AP) — Werder Bremen defeated Cologne 3-1 at home to ease its relegation worries in the third of the Bundesliga's unpopular Monday night games.
Maximilian Eggestein sealed the win in the last minute to lift Bremen five points clear of the relegation zone and leave Cologne on the bottom, eight points from safety with eight games to play.
Some fans boycotted the game and others blew whistles against Monday night games, though the protests were not as noticeable as they were in Dortmund and Frankfurt last month.
The home side created more in the first half and Milos Veljkovic made the breakthrough after half an hour. Cologne players protested furiously after Thomas Delaney cleverly blocked Cologne defender Dominique Heintz from getting to a corner, but it was no foul, and Veljkovic was free to sweep the ball in.
Bremen scored a similar goal against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the previous round.
Cologne emerged with intent after the break and Claudio Pizarro set up Yuya Osako to equalize. The 39-year-old Pizarro was showing no sign of his age on his return to his former club.
But the excellent Milot Rashica restored Bremen's lead five minutes later, flicking the ball past Timo Horn in the Cologne goal after a perfectly weighted pass from Florian Kainz.
Pizarro headed Cologne's best chance of an equalizer just wide in a frenetic finale before Eggestein sealed it on a counterattack.
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