Lukas Podolski Penalty Moves Cologne Off The Bottom

Cologne claimed a 1-0 victory over Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in a frenetic match through a late penalty from Lukas Podolski. The visitors started off slightly the better in an even first half, with Martin Lanig threatening Sven Ulreich’s goal a couple of times with long-range efforts. Stuttgart came into the game more before the break, Cacau had a good chance, and the hosts were nearly a man up at the break after Lanig could have been sent off for a couple of cynical fouls.

The match opened up even more in the second half, and Podolski spurned a number of good chances after good combinations with Milivoje Novakovic. Cacau wasted a simple back post header, Georg Niedermeier headed over about ten minutes later, and Pavel Pogrebnyak hit the post with the goal gaping in front of him just after. Stuttgart were on the front foot, but the match swung in Köln’s favour as Niedermeier fouled Novakovic in the area, and Podolski slammed the penalty past Ulriech with just eight minutes to play.

Stuttgart poured forward in search of an equalizer, and the substitute Martin Harnik, who had been instrumental in the intense Stuttgart pressure before the penalty, headed narrowly wide with just four minutes to play. The hosts were stretched at the back and Novakovic nearly capitalized as he was put one-on-one with Ulreich in stoppage time, but the Stuttgart ‘keeper kept him from scoring his fifth league goal of the season with an excellent save. In spite of that missed opportunity, a one-goal margin proved enough for Köln, and the three points have moved them off the bottom into seventeenth, while Stuttgart have fallen into sixteenth. In the other match on Sunday, Edin Dzeko notched a second-half equalizer to give Wolfsburg a fortuitous 1-1 draw against battling St. Pauli at the Millerntor-Stadion.