Cologne shocks Leverkusen 4-1 at German Bundesliga

Cologne inflicted Leverkusen a heavy 4-1 defeat owing an outstanding performance by striker Lukas Podolksi and Milivoje Novakovic meanwhile Hoffenheims Roberto Firmino scored a brace against Wolfsburg to seal the victory on Saturday. Bayer Leverkusen dominated the match from the start against Cologne but they remained short on accuracy against Cologns well-positioned defence. Just before break Cologne opened the scoring out of the blue as striker Novakovic exploited a terrific build up play by German international, and Cologne striker Podolski to slot home into open goal from very close distance. Only two minutes after the break, Cologne doubled the lead when Podolski utilized Novakovics assist with a volley shot into the roof of the net. Leverkusen remained absolutely stunned as Podolski went one better at the 54th minute to triple the lead from 14 meters into top right. Leverkusen was only able to make it 1-3 on the scoreboards through midfielder Simon Rolfes at the 70th minute but Cologne finished the match with the fourth goal through midfielder Mato Jajalo just before final whistle to inflict Leverkusen the second defeat. During injury time Leverkusen striker assured the negative highlight when he booked a straight red card for a rude foul play. Hoffenheim sealed a 3-1 win over Wolfsburg thanks to two goals by midfielder Roberto Firmino to impose the "Wolves" the fourth defeat. Both sides staged a slow start but with 20 minutes into the match Dutch international and Hoffenheim striker opened the scoring for his side with a tremendous goal from 35 meters. Three minutes later, Firmino dribbled his way through Wolfsburg's defence to make it 2-0 on the scoreboard. Hoffenheim retracted with the 2-0 lead so that consequently Wolfsburg shortened the score at the 67th minute to 1-2 as midfielder Ashkan Dejagah exploited a follow up shot from close distance. At the 81st minute, Wolfsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz lost his head when he weakened his team as he was sent off with a straight red card due to an insult against the referee. Hoffenheim exploited the superior number to mark the final 3-1 score at the 85th minute through Firmino. Berlin turned a deficit against Augsburg but they suffered an equalizer at the 64th minute to share points after a two-all draw. Bundesliga newbie Augsburg shocked Berlin with the early lead with 20 minutes into the match by midfielder Hajime Hosogai who slotted home with a drop shot at the back post after a corner. Berlin stayed shocked through out the first half unable to level the score. With only seconds into second half defender Christian Lell converted a pass into path to equalize the score. At the 57th minute Berlin turned the match as striker youngster Tunay Torun capitalised on a fatal error by Augsburg defence to slot the 2-1 lead. It was a short-lived joy as Augsburg levelled the score through midfielder Jan Ingwer Callsen Bracker to wrap the third tie. Outnumbered Bremen saved a 1-1 draw against Nuremberg. Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese weakend his team when he booked a straight red card after a professional foul outside the penalty with only 17 minutes into the match. Other than expected Bremen was able to open the scoring through youngster midfielder Mehmet Ekici at the 24th minute but Nuremberg was able to level at the 62nd minute as defender Philipp Wollscheid nodded home a corner. Hamburg plunged into a crisis as they suffered their fourth consecutive loss against Monchengladbach that needed only one goal against unimaginative Hamburg to seal the deal. Kaiserslautern turned a 0-1 deficit against Mainz into a 3-1 victory at the Rhineland-Palatinate derby. Mainz striker Eric Maxim Choupo Moting opened the scoring at the 15th minute but Kaiserslautern striker Richards Sukuta Pasu, striker Itay Shchter and midfielder Christian Tiffert wrapped the deserved victory Already on Friday Stuttgart defeated Freiburg 2-1 thanks to the brace by Martin Harnik. Hannover hosts Dortmund and Schalke faces Bayern on Sunday Bundesliga.