By Ulf Zimmermann, dpa
Cologne, Germany (dpa) – Cologne marched to the top of the German football Bundesliga with a 3-0 victory over Freiburg on Friday.
Two first-half goals in two minutes by Anthony Modeste and Leonardo Bittencourt and a third by Modeste shortly before the interval were enough for Cologne, who move to seven points from three matches and have yet to concede a goal.
Their lead at the top could be short lived, with champions Bayern Munich hoping to maintain their perfect start when they entertain Ingolstadt on Saturday.
Hertha Berlin, also on six points from two games, greet Schalke on Sunday.
Modeste put Cologne ahead with a glancing header from a Marcel Risse corner in the 29th minute, and Bittencourt quickly followed up when Yuya Osako squared the ball across goal.
French striker Modeste then headed in his second in the 43rd minute from a simple long throw-in by Frederik Soerensen.
Cologne coach Peter Stoeger said: «In a game like this small mistakes are decisive, and Freiburg made them in the first half. We took advantage of those.»
Cologne top the league for the first time since August 1996. Their win ended a run of four defeats against promoted Freiburg, who have three points from three games, and they have now gone eight Bundesliga matches without defeat over two seasons.
Midfielder Marco Hoeger said: «We mustn’t get carried away. Maybe we can frame (the league table), but there’s a long way to go in the season.»
