German Bundesliga

1. FC Köln vs Bayer Leverkusen – 15.30 LIVE

Great jubilation among the Leverkusen players!(Bild: AFP)

Bayer Leverkusen have extended their lead at the top of the German Bundesliga table with a win at 1. FC Köln! 

Coach Xabi Alonso's team won the Rhineland derby 2-0 on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run to 34 games. The league leaders also took advantage of Bayern Munich's slip-up at Freiburg (2:2) and increased their lead to a comfortable ten points with ten rounds to go.

Cologne had to play short-handed for a long time, with Jan Thielmann seeing red after just 14 minutes following a serious foul on Granit Xhaka. The game continued in the same vein, with ÖFB team player Dejan Ljubicic picking up his fifth yellow card after criticizing the referee, meaning he will be suspended against Mönchengladbach next week.

Leverkusen by no means dominant
Shortly before the break, Leverkusen, who were far from dominant, took their chance to take the lead through Jeremie Frimpong (38'). Sargis Adamyan missed the equalizer for the "Billy Goats" after the restart, the striker failing to hit the inside of the post (51'). At the other end, Alejandro Grimaldo did better with his goal to make it 2:0 (73').

Cologne, for whom Florian Kainz was only a substitute this time, thus remain in 16th place - one point ahead of 17th place (Mainz) and eight behind 15th (Bochum).