09.05.2021 15:31 h

Duda's penalty miss moves Cologne closer to relegation

Bundesliga strugglers Cologne suffered another blow in their bid to avoid relegation on Sunday, as a disputed handball decision and a missed penalty by Ondrej Duda saw them slip to a 4-1 defeat at home to Freiburg.

After going two goals down early on, second-from-bottom Cologne fell short of a dramatic comeback despite a brave second-half performance, and missed the chance to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

Friedhelm Funkel's side remain two points adrift of safety, with the two teams above them, Arminia Bielefeld and Hertha Berlin, set to play later Sunday.

Freiburg took advantage of some sloppy defending to take the lead on 18 minutes, Nils Petersen pouncing on a loose ball after a mistake from Ellyes Skhiri.

Ermedin Demirovic doubled the lead two minutes later, tapping in from close range after Roland Sallai had carved through the Cologne defence on the right wing.

Cheered on by fans from outside the stadium, the hosts came out fighting in the second half.

Sebastian Andersson pulled a goal back with a brilliant first-time finish four minutes after the break. Cologne looked set to equalise when Ismail Jakobs was brought down in the box on the counter-attack.

Yet Duda slipped as he took the penalty, skying the ball high into the empty stands.

Cologne had the ball in the net in stoppage time, but the goal was controversially disallowed for handball, despite video footage showing it had struck Jonas Hector's shoulder.

The hosts then fell apart in the dying minutes as Vincenzo Grifo and Jonathan Schmid sealed the win for Freiburg with two goals on the counter-attack.