Claudio Pizarro had a last-minute goal disallowed as bottom-of-the-table Cologne were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Hannover.

Cologne 1-1 Hannover

Goals: 1-0 Osako (29'), 1-1 Füllkrug (37')

The Billy Goats’ Rückrunde revival has faltered in recent weeks following defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt, but Stefan Ruthenbeck’s charges started confidently at the RheinEnergieSTADION and twice went close to taking an early lead. Yuya Osako, making his first appearance since January, lost his footing when through on Philipp Tschauner’s goal before Simon Terodde failed to get the better of the Hannover ‘keeper from the edge of the area. The hosts edged in front just before the half-hour mark, Osako slamming into the far corner after pouncing on a loose ball in the box, but Niclas Füllkrug swept home a deserved equaliser for the Reds just eight minutes later.

There was a lengthy stoppage of play ten minutes into the second half as Terodde was stretchered off following an aerial collision with Hannover defender Salif Sane. The 29-year-old’s replacement, Simon Zoller, was played clean through within minutes of his introduction, but the forward had strayed into an offside position. Ruthenbeck threw on Pizarro with five minutes of normal time remaining, and the Peruvian thought he had earned his team a precious three points when he headed home with virtually the last kick of the game, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Match stats

Osako ended a run of nine league appearances without a goal on Matchday 23.Füllkrug and Terodde are the only Bundesliga players to score five times in 2018. Marcel Risse was named in the Cologne starting XI for the first time in five months.Hannover have not won any of their last six games against a team sitting bottom of the table.

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Line-ups

Cologne: T. Horn - Sörensen, Mere, Heintz, Hector (c) - Risse, Höger, Özcan (Pizarro 85'), Jojic (Koziello 70') - Osako, Terodde (Zoller 61')
Absentees: Queiros (neck), Clemens (thigh), Nartey (thigh)
Unused subs: Kessler, Maroh, J. Horn, Lehmann
Coach: Stefan Ruthenbeck

Hannover: Tschauner (c) – Sorg, Sane, Elez – Korb (Karaman 65'), Schwegler, Fossum (Hübner 90'), Ostrzolek – Klaus (Harnik 71'), Füllkrug, Bebou
Unused subs: Esser, Albornoz, Bakalorz, Maier
Absentees: Anton (ill)
Coach: Andre Breitenreiter

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