Hamburg relegate for first time in German Bundesliga

Berlin May 13 (IANS) Hamburg relegated for the first time in their club history despite a 2-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach meanwhile Wolfsburg will face a relegation play-off after beating already relegated Cologne 4-1 at the closer of the 55th Bundesliga season on Saturday.

The "HSV" needed a victory and a win by Cologne over Wolfsburg to maintain their chance to remain in the top flight reports Xinhua.

Hamburg grabbed a fairy-tale start into the game as they opened the scoring through Aaron Hunt who converted a handball penalty for the opener with eleven minutes played.

Monchengladbach responded well and shocked the hosts with the leveller in the 28th minute when Josip Drmic overcame Hamburg goalkeeper Julian Pollersbeck into the top left corner.

After the restart Hamburg pressed frenetically as Tatsuya Ito came close before Lewis Holtby slotted home with a low shot into the far post corner to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards in the 63rd minute.

However the hosts had to complete the game with ten-men as Bobby Wood received his marching order after seeing his second yellow card in the 71st minute.

Despite the win Hamburg will relegate into the second division for the first time after 55 seasons in Germany s top flight whereas Monchengladbach completed the season on the 9th place.

Wolfsburg wrapped up a much-needed 4-1 victory over relegated Cologne to avoid their direct relegation.

--IANS
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