Hertha BSC snatched their first Bundesliga victory of the year on Friday, edging Cologne 1-0 thanks to a Vedad Ibisevic goal, as the visitors tightened their grip on third place.
The Berlin club enjoyed a good first half of the season, but have suffered a dip in form since the winter break, with their last league win coming on Dec. 20 last year.
A 43rd-minute strike by Ibisevic, his seventh of the campaign in the Bundesliga, gave Hertha 39 points from 23 matches, four clear of fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Photo: AP
More aggressive at the start, Hertha scored when Cologne lost possession in midfield and Ibisevic capped a swift move by converting a Salomon Kalou pass.
The roles were almost reversed in the 72nd minute as Ibisevic headed on a corner and Kalou narrowly failed to connect in front of goal.
Cologne, who hit the woodwork through Anthony Modeste in the 82nd minute, suffered a second straight defeat to stay in ninth position on 29 points.
Photo: AP
LA LIGA
AP, EIBAR, Spain
UD Las Palmas beat Sociedad Deportiva Eibar 1-0 on Friday to earn their first away win since earning promotion to La Liga at the end of last season.
In a match bogged down by Eibar’s water-logged pitch, Las Palmas mustered two good chances to produce a corner that Pedro Bigas headed in for the winning goal in first-half stoppage-time.
The victory left Las Palmas in the relegation zone before the rest of round 26 matches.
“We knew it was a very, very important match,” Bigas said. “We had been waiting a very long time for this first win away from home.”
Eibar missed an opportunity to provisionally move into sixth place.
LIGUE 1
AP, PARIS
OGC Nice lost ground in the race for second place in Ligue 1 after losing 2-0 at home to SC Bastia on Friday.
The match changed when Nice defender Paul Baysse was sent off in the 57th minute for fouling Bastia midfielder Floyd Ayite as the last defender.
Bastia scored four minutes later when forward Sadio Diallo curled in a long-range free-kick and, three minutes after, Ayite made it 2-0, taking advantage of a poor clearance to fire in off the post.
There were no away fans due to previous hostilities between the fierce rival supporters, but plenty of friction on the field, with a further eight players booked altogether.
Nice moved up to third, eight points behind second-placed AS Monaco, who play at Nantes today.
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