Leverkusen beats Cologne to move up to 7th

FRANKFURT(AP) Bayer Leverkusen remained in contention for a European qualification spot on Sunday with a 2-0 victory at local rival Cologne to move to seventh place in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen had previously tallied just three goals during a five-game winless streak, but against Cologne Stefan Kiessling scored in the 66th minute and Patrick Helmes converted a penalty 10 minutes later to secure the victory.

Leverkusen moved on to 41 points after 26 games but is still four-points behind fifth-place Stuttgart which occupies the last qualification spot for next season's Europa League, which replaces the UEFA Cup.

"We had a tough stretch of games behind us. So we are really just happy to have finally won again," said Helmes. "But we also have a tough stretch of games ahead of us. So we'll have to see if we can make it to the international (European) places."

Werder Bremen is all but out of the running for European football next season despite Claudio Pizarro's hat trick in Bremen's 4-1 home victory over Hannover.

"We know the Bundesliga is just about over for us but we have to continue to play well," said Pizarro.

Bremen, 10th in the Bundesliga with 35 points, play against Udinese Calcio in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

"This was an important game for us to again show that we can score goals and we need to score in the first leg," added Pizarro.

Scoring goals has been a major problem for last-placed Karlsruhe, which played out a scoreless draw at home against fellow struggler Borussia Moenchengladbach, which lies in 16th place, the last relegation spot, with 23 points.

"We are not giving up on the first division," said Karlsruhe coach Edmund Becker, whose team has not scored in its last seven games and just 18 points.

Updated April 5, 2009

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