Podolski propels Köln to victory against Augsburg

Lukas Podolski's first-half double inspired 1. FC Köln to a 3-0 win against FC Augsburg, on a day when ten-man Hamburger SV were held to a 1-1 draw with 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Köln raced into a 2-0 lead inside 24 minutes as Podolski notched his seventh and eighth goals of the season, the second a penalty, before Poland international Sławomir Peszko completed the scoring early in the second half. The result lifted the hosts to 11th, while Augsburg dropped to 17th.

One place higher and just outside the automatic relegation berths are Hamburg, after Thorsten Fink's charges recovered from going a man and a goal down to seal a point. Slobodan Rajković was dismissed on 22 minutes and things got worse for the home side when Pierre de Wit (38) put Kaiserslautern ahead. José Paolo Guerrero responded with 25 minutes remaining, however, as Hamburg stretched their unbeaten run to three games.