Cologne wrapped their second win of the football season after Anthony Modeste provided two goals against Freiburg in the third round in Bundesliga.
Freiburg on Friday suffered their second loss as Cologne scored three first-half goals to secure three points on home soil in front of 46,000 spectators, reports Xinhua.
Both sides started cautious start into the encounter, as both team did not want to risk an early deficit. Things changed with 29 minutes into the encounter when Anthony Modeste headed home Marcel Risse's cross into the box to open the scoring.
Peter Stoeger's men gained momentum and doubled the lead only two minutes later after Leonardo Bittencourt finished off Yuya Osako's build-up play to make it 2-0 on the scoreboards.
Things went from bad to worse before the break as Modeste sealed his brace as he headed home his second goal of the night following a cross from the left wing by Frederik Soerensen in the 43rd minute.
After the restart, Freiburg turned up but they were unable to score their consolation. Nils Petersen's efforts rattled the crossbar in the 71st minute before Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn was on guard twice to maintain the clean sheet in the closing period.
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With the result, Cologne sit atop the standings for the first time in 20 years whereas Freiburg occupy the 12th place in the table.
"Small errors decide a game. Today, we capitalised on Freiburg's errors and reaped a win," Cologne coach Peter Stoeger said.
Freiburg coach Christian Streich said: "I am not dissatisfied with my team's performance. We have just missed our opportunities whereas Cologne converted their chances."
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