Bundesliga wrap: Pizarro at the double for Bremen, two in a row for Cologne

Werder Bremen moved to second in the Bundesliga after a 2-1 win over a nine-man Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

In front of more than 40,000 fans at the Weserstadion, Thomas Schaaf’s side were forced to come from behind to claim all three points.

Adrian Ramos put the visitors in front after just three minutes, although Claudio Pizarro produced a response 20 minutes later for Werder Bremen.

A feisty second half exploded into life when Hertha Berlin defender Christian Lell was given a second yellow card on 57 minutes and just six minutes later the visitors were reduced to nine men when Ramos was given his second yellow.

As a result, Werder Bremen piled the pressure on and although it took a while, they finally got their winner through Peruvian Claudio Pizarro who scored three minutes into stoppage time to complete a double.

In the other match of the day, Cologne won their second match in a row as they defeated fourth-placed Hoffenheim 2-0 in front of their fans at the Rhein-Energie Stadion.

Coming off a 4-1 away win at Leverkusen, Cologne entered the match in good spirits and striker Lukas Podolski laid on the assist for Mato Jajalo’s 20th-minute opener, before the Cologne stalwart found the back of the net himself with 26 minutes remaining to effectively seal the result.