BERLIN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Leverkusen's late goals increase Paderborn's relegation worries meanwhile Cologne's three goals within 10 minutes downed Frankfurt 4-2 to close the 24th round in Bundesliga on Sunday.
Newly promoted and relegation threatened Paderborn were able to hold the pace with Leverkusen until the 73rd minute, but three late goals secured the "Werkself" a vital win on the road.
After a goalless first half Paderborn took the reins but their poor finish denied them decisive points for their relegation battle.
Paderborn's Stefan Kutschke squandered two promising opportunities to break the deadlock. As a result Leverkusen's Kyriakos Papadopoulos punished the poor chance conversion by the hosts with a header following a Gonzalo Castro free kick at the 73rd minute.
The deficit took the wind out of Paderborn's sails as Leverkusen's Heung Min Son donated a brace within six minutes to put the game beyond doubt. With the victory Leverkusen defended the fourth place, which is a Champions League play off spot, meanwhile Paderborn stays on the relegation play off spot with a two-point gap to safety.
"We were unable to overcome Paderborn's defence for a long time but the opener gave us more space to implement our strategy," Leverkusen's coach Roger Schmidt said.
Elsewhere, Cologne secured their first win after five winless games thanks to the 4-2 victory at Frankfurt.
Cologne opened the scoring by courtesy of Deyverson at the 28th minute. Unmarked Anthony Ujah had the chance to double the lead but he missed the chance before the break. The hosts restored parity after the break through Alexander Meier, who slotted home with a follow up shot from sharp angle at the 58th minute.
The equalizer gave Frankfurt momentum but it was Cologne who grabbed the lead for the second time when Marcel Risse made it 2-1 on the scoreboards from 16 meters into the near post corner at the 72nd minute. Frankfurt wobbled and had to swallow another goal, as Yuya Osako tapped in a through ball by Ujah seven minutes later to make the game safe.
Cologne were not done with the scoring as Ujah also got his name on the scoreboards at the 82nd minute before Frankfurt's Alexander Meier reduced the arrears to 4-2. Meier's 18th goal of the season moved him atop the scorers' standings.
Cologne had to complete the game with 10-men as Kevin Wimmer saw a straight red card for a professional foul in the dying seconds of the game.
"We have to go to our limits to survive in this league and that's what we did today," Cologne's coach Peter Stoeger said.
The seventh win of the season moved newly promoted Cologne on the 11th place while Frankfurt slumped to the ninth.