Koln earns Bundesliga promotion
Already-promoted FC Koln capped its return to the Bundesliga in style with a commanding 4-0 victory over Kaiserslautern to seal the 2. Bundesliga title.
The three-time Bundesliga title-winner made light work of the game at the RheinEnergieStadion, taking control early with first-half goals from Eric Martel and Luca Waldschmidt.
Martel opened the scoring in the 14th minute, while Waldschmidt followed suit in the 29th as Koln enjoyed a comfortable outing.
Koln added a third through Florian Kainz in the 76th minute before Mark Uth struck three minutes from time to confirm their return to the Bundesliga, just one year after their relegation.
It returns to top-flight football along with the already-promoted Hamburger SV, who lost out 3-2 to Greuther Fuerth to finish the season on 59 points, two behind Koln.
This marks Koln’s seventh-ever promotion to the first division, with only Nurnberg and Arminia Bielefeld having been promoted more often (eight times each).
It also marks a record seventh promotion to the Bundesliga for manager Friedhelm Funkel.
Koln has been one of the form teams of the 2. Bundesliga this season, managing a clean sheet in 11 of its 34 matches.
Only third-placed Elversberg has managed more clean sheets, with 13, and it will now go into a promotion/relegation play-off against Heidenheim, which finished in 16th place in the Bundesliga.
