BERLIN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Mainz increased Cologne's relegation worries after Leandro Barreiro was late on target to secure a 3-2 victory on the road in the 28th round in Bundesliga on Sunday.
Mainz gave away its narrow lead in the first half before the second-half goals from Karim Onisiwo and Barreiro snatched all three points at relegation-threatened Cologne.
The hosts started highly motivated on home soil and reaped the game's first chance with less than two minutes gone as Ondrej Duda volleyed over the target.
It was the visitors though who opened the scoring with 11 minutes played as Barreiro teed up for Jean-Paul Boetius, who drilled the ball from 17 meters into the roof of the net.
Cologne remained unimpressed and pushed forward but Sebastian Andersson pulled wide twice in quick succession.
The hosts were nonetheless able to restore parity before the break as Duda remained his cool from the spot and converted a handball penalty with two minutes remaining in the first half.
After the restart, Cologne assumed control and tested Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner, who tipped Marius Wolf's header to the bar in the 58th minute.
The host's efforts eventually paid off as they took the 2-1 lead at the hour mark when Ellyes Skhiri nodded home Jonas Hector's free-kick to the far post.
However, the lead didn't last long as Mainz made it two-all after Boetius square pass allowed Onisiwo to tap home from very close range four minutes later.
Things went from bad to worse for Cologne as Mainz combined its way through the host's defense before Barreiro unleashed a low shot to beat custodian Timo Horn into the bottom right corner in the dying seconds of the game.
With the result, Cologne slump to 17th place, which is a direct relegation spot, meanwhile, Mainz extended its unbeaten run to five games to 14th.
"It was a wild game. Overall, not the best performance of my team, especially in the first half. It is a lucky win but three really crucial points for us," said Mainz head coach Bo Svensson.
Elsewhere, last-placed Schalke returned to winning ways and wrapped up its second win of the season after Suat Serdar's sole goal was enough to down Augsburg.
On Monday, Hoffenheim host Bayer Leverkusen to round off the 28th round in Germany's top flight. Enditem
