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Nadiem Amiri (front) celebrates a lucky away win
Photo: THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
Bayer Leverkusen won the Rheinderby at 1. FC Köln.
Xabi Alonso's team won 2:1 (0:1) - and thus improved to 13th place in the Bundesliga for the time being.
Cologne, who were eliminated from the Conference League last week, missed out on their first league win in four games.
FC full-back Benno Schmitz surprisingly took the lead (30 minutes), Nadiem Amiri equalized with a free kick (65 minutes).
Moussa Diaby decided the game with a counterattack (71').
In the meantime, Leverkusen was threatened with a direct relegation zone.
And indeed, for a long time it didn't look as if the next Leverkusen victory would follow the 5-0 triumph over Union Berlin.
Because at the beginning the guests were harmless, and after numerous English weeks, the people of Cologne were also anxious to control the game.
The ball and the first chance by Sargis Adamyan (9th) belonged to the home team, Bayer goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký parried.
Leverkusen's poor division of space took revenge after half an hour: Schmitz chested in a cross from Adamyan at the far corner of the penalty area and completed it with a fine shot into the left corner.
It was Schmitz's first goal in the 93rd Bundesliga game and the first goal in a competitive game since May 2014, when it was still for FC Bayern Munich's second team in the regional league.
Schindler's shoulder helps
Cologne captain Jonas Hector failed shortly after the break at Hrádecký and the crossbar (50th).
Although the guests hardly managed to get any deals, they were always capable of a decisive individual action due to the well-known offensive players like Moussa Diaby or Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Instead, the equalizer came from a deflected free-kick hit by Amiris (65').
Kingsley Schindler steered the actually harmless ball decisively into his own goal with his shoulder.
Just six minutes later, Hudson-Odoi initiated a Leverkusen counterattack with a through ball into Jeremie Frimpong's run.
He used his speed against Hector and served Diaby, who only had to push in.
The Cologne team became braver and pushed for an equaliser.
First Steffen Tigges hit the crossbar, then Robert Andrich also headed the crossbar.
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