Cologne beats Paderborn for 8th win from 10 in Bundesliga

PADERBORN, Germany (AP) — Cologne held on to beat last-placed Paderborn 2-1 for its eighth win from 10 Bundesliga games on Friday.

First-half goals from defenders Jorge Meré and Jonas Hector, both set up by Mark Uth, put the visitors on track for their third consecutive victory. Dennis Srbeny’s header for the home side in the 78th minute set up an exciting finale.

Cologne forward Anthony Modeste might have sealed the result late on after rounding the goalkeeper, but his shot from a difficult angle flashed wide of the far post.

Goalkeeper Timo Horn saved the win by deflecting Abdelhamid Sabiri’s free kick onto the crossbar, and another Sabiri effort was cleared for a corner in injury time.

Since losing at Union Berlin 2-0 on Dec. 8, Cologne has lost only to Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

The result left Paderborn five points behind Fortuna Düsseldorf ahead of the rest of the 25th round. It was Steffen Baumgart’s side’s fourth consecutive defeat and sixth straight game without a win.

Kickoff was half an hour earlier than usual for the Friday night Bundesliga game to protect neighbors living near the stadium from late noise. It was to be over by 10 p.m. local time.