BERLIN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Cologne secured their third victory in a row after increasing Paderborn's relegation worries following a 2-1 win at the curtain raiser of the 25th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
Paderborn suffered their fourth consecutive defeat as Cologne staged a powerful first half to smooth the way for the win. The bottom side turned up after the half time but their goal to reduce the arrears came too late.
Cologne took the reins from the kick-off, but they were only able to work out half chances through Anthony Modeste and Jonas Hector in the early stages of the encounter.
The visitors controlled possession but lacked in penetration that is why they had to wait until the half-hour mark to open the scoring as Jorge Mere capitalized on a flicked on corner to tap home at the far post.
The "Billy Goats" gained momentum and doubled their advantage seven minutes later when Hector had all time and space to drill the ball from 20 meters with the outside of the foot into the top right corner.
Uth should have extended the lead after the restart, but the striker was unable to control the ball following a corner kick.
Just when Cologne thought they secured an uncontested victory on the road, Paderborn bounced back and reduced the arrears out the blue as Dennis Srbeny nodded home Kai Proger's pinpoint cross to the near post in the 73rd minute.
Cologne wobbled and squandered another promising chance through Modeste to put the result beyond doubt meanwhile Paderborn piled on the pressure.
In the closing stages, the visitors had to thank their goalkeeper Timo Horn for securing all three points on the road after tipping Abdelhamid Sabiri's dangerous free kick to the crossbar.
With the result, Cologne move on the 10th place for the moment whereas last placed Paderborn sit five points adrift from a relegation play-off spot.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Schalke host Hoffenheim, Freiburg face newly promoted Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen see Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg encounter runners-up Leipzig, Hertha Berlin clash with Werder Bremen and Borussia Monchengladbach meet Borussia Dortmund.