Monday 11 December 2017 00:22, UK
Two penalties in the final minutes of the match saw winless Cologne capitulate as they threw away a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 to fellow relegation battlers Freiburg on Sunday.
Nils Petersen scored a hat-trick for the visitors, bagging both penalties in a cruel ending for the home faithful.
With under-19s coach Stefan Ruthenbeck in charge after the sacking of Peter Stoger - who was named as Peter Bosz's replacement at Borussia Dortmund on Sunday - Cologne appeared on course for a first win in 15 league outings before the break.
Lukas Klunter opened the scoring after eight minutes and it was 2-0 when Sehrou Guirassy scored from the spot after 16 minutes, having been brought down by Julian Schuster.
Caleb Stanko's 29th-minute own goal made it 3-0, but Petersen pulled one back in the 39th minute and Janik Haberer set nerves trembling with a second after 65 minutes.
And Cologne could not hold out as Timo Horn fouled Salih Ozcan in the area and Petersen dispatched the penalty.
Worse was to follow as, in the sixth minute of time added on, Freiburg were awarded another spot-kick, and Petersen condemned them to a 12th defeat in 15, leaving them 11 points adrift at the foot of the table.
Hannover boosted their push for the European places with a 2-0 win over Hoffenheim.
Niclas Fullkrug broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, and Martin Harnik made sure of the points five minutes from time.
Salomon Kalou scored in injury time to grab a 1-1 draw for Hertha Berlin at Augsburg.
The hosts had looked set to claim a third-straight Bundesliga win when Caiuby put them in front in the 74th minute.
But Kalou pounced to earn a point for mid-table Hertha as they bounced back from last week's loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.
