Freiburg win basement battle in 7-goal thriller

BERLIN: Freiburg came from three goals down to win Sunday’s thrilling Bundesliga basement battle 4-3 at Cologne as visiting striker Nils Petersen wrapped up his hat-trick with a 95th-minute penalty.

A heavy overnight snowfall created testing conditions at bottom side Cologne, but the hosts charged into a 3-0 lead with just half an hour gone.

Lukas Kluenter hit the bottom right-hand corner after eight minutes then French striker Sehrou Guirassy converted a 16th-minute penalty only after the referee struggled to find the spot under the snow.

Freiburg’s USA midfielder Caleb Stanko turned the ball into his own net to make it 3-0 with 29 minutes gone and Cologne were on course for their first win this season.

However, ex-Bayern striker Petersen offered Freburg faint hope by pulling a goal with a superb volley direct from a cross just before half-time.

Then with an hour gone, midfielder Janik Haberer put Freiburg back in the game with a bullet header from a corner.

Petersen equalised in the 90th minute by converting his first penalty and grabbed an unlikely win for Freiburg by drilling home a second spot-kick just before the final whistle after a handball from Guirassy.

Freiburg are now 16th in the table, still in the relegation places. The defeat broke Cologne hearts, leaving them winless after their first 15 matches and now 12 points from safety in their first league games since cult coach Peter Stoeger was sacked last weekend.

Stoeger was named new coach of Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, a day after they crashed 2-1 at home to Werder Bremen, their eighth league game without a win, which cost Stoeger’s predecessor Peter Bosz his job. On Saturday, Bayern Munich opened an eight-point lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt after second-placed RB Leipzig conceded a late equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Mainz.