Result: Paderborn 1-2 Koln
Date: 06 March 2020
Venue: Benteler-Arena
FC Koln clinched their third straight win in the Bundesliga with a 2-1 triumph away to relegation-threatened Paderborn on Friday night.
Sven Michel took the place of Klaus Gjasula as the home side's only change while Koln - without their suspended top scorer Jhon Cordoba - had three alterations, with Jorge Mere, Anthony Modeste and Mark Uth coming to the fore.
The visitors almost grabbed an early lead after Uth cracked a strike from range which forced Paderborn shot-stopper Leopold Zingerle into a superb save inside the opening five minutes.
After waves of attack, Koln eventually broke the deadlock in the 28th thanks to a close range finish from Mere after he was setup by the influential Uth.
The visitors were two goals up nine minutes before the break after Jonas Hector unleashed a strike from outside the box that sailed into the top corner.
The hosts were fired up to get back to the game early in the second stanza as Sebastian Vasiliadis came very close to pulling a goal back on the hour-mark with a threatening strike that sailed slightly over the bar.
The tempo picked up after that and Paderborn eventually pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute through Dennis Srbeny, who nodded home from Kai Proger's lofted cross.
Koln came close to restoring their two-goal lead with 11 minutes remaining after Modeste went through on goal but the striker's shot missed the right post by a whisker.
Paderborn threw bodies forward desperate for equaliser in the closing minutes but the visitors were able to see out the rest of the game to claim three points and move up to 10th spot while Paderborn remain rooted to the bottom.
