Berlin: VfL Wolfsburg tightened their second place by beating FC Cologne 2-1 while Borussia Dortmund failed to ease their relegation worries as last positioned SV Werder Bremen carved out a 2-1 victory against them at the 17th round in Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg avoided their third consecutive draw as they turned the tide against newly promoted Cologne to win 2-1 Saturday, reports Xinhua.
The 'Wolves' sit now 13 points behind front-runners Bayern Munich to complete the best first half of the campaign in the club's history.
Cologne stunned the hosts with just 11 minutes into the encounter when Dominic Maroh utilised a lob by Daniel Halfar to slot home into the near post corner.
Wolfsburg remained unfazed and levelled the scores just five minutes later as Bas Dost headed home a pinpoint cross by Sebastian Jung.
The hosts increased their pressure at the second half to turn the tide thanks to Naldo, who headed home a Kevin De Bruyne's corner inside the box at the 78th minute.
Cologne pressed for the two-all draw but Wolfsburg were able to kill the game. Cologne complete the first half of the season on the 11th place whilst Wolfsburg consolidate their second place in the standings.
Juergen Klopp's men remain in the Bundesliga drop zone as they lost 1-2 to Bremen by suffering the 10th defeat of the season.
The hosts caught a bright start on home soil when Davie Selke flabbergasted the team with the opener in the third minute. Selke made use of a through ball by Santiago Garcia by curling the ball into the top right corner with just Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak to beat.
Dortmund were stunned and unable to fight back within the first half. Things changed from bad to worse for the team after the restart as Bremen doubled the lead through Fin Bartels.
Selke assisted the mid-fielder with a square pass to the far post where Bartels slotted home into the near post corner in the 62nd minute to make it 2-0.
It looked like the second goal was a wakening call for the visitors as they reduced the arrears seven minutes later through Mats Hummels, whose header from eight metres made it 1-2.
Later, Dortmund frenetically pressed hard but failed to get the equaliser.
With the 10th defeat of the season, Dortmund slip to the 17th place whereas Bremen jump on a relegation play-off spot.
FC Augsburg came from behind to overcome Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 thanks to the winner by Raul Bobadilla.
Monchengladbach slip to the fourth place meanwhile Augsburg stay on a surprising 6th position.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen secured a draw at home against Eintracht Frankfurt courtesy Karim Bellarabi's late equaliser.
Bundesliga top scorer Alexander Meier opened the scoring for Frankfurt with a foul play penalty, extending his tally to 13 goals.
Leverkusen climb to the 3rd place while Frankfurt jump on the 7th place.
Schalke 04 and Hamburger SV shared the spoil following a goalless draw as well as VfB Stuttgart and newly promoted SC Paderborn 07.
