Berlin, Oct 25 (IANS): Bremen remain at the bottom of the table as they lost 0-1 to Cologne in the opener of the Bundesliga's ninth round.

Cologne's substitute Anthony Ujah scored the winner to secure his side the third victory of the season Friday while Bremen wait for their first triumph as they are trapped in last position with only four points out of nine games, reports Xinhua.

Both sides staged an evenly balanced first half but the second-half goal by Ujah shocked the visitors, who lacked in penetration and ideas to avoid the fifth defeat of the season.

The visitors from the north took the reins after the kick-off yet they needed 29 minutes to create their first noteworthy chance against Cologne. Bremen's Cedrick Makiadi crossed into the box to see Fin Bartels, who pulled wide from sharp angle.

Cologne lurked on fast breaks and long-range efforts but neither Marcel Risse nor Jonas Hector were able to overcome Bremen's goalkeeper Raphael Wolf from promising positions before the break.

Bremen worked out their best chance after the restart when Zlatko Junuzovic forced Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn to make a diving save in the 56th minute. However, it was the hosts who broke the deadlock. The Nigerian striker needed only 70 seconds to score the decider following a square pass by Dusan Svento into the box in the 59th minute.

Bremen were stunned and unable to fight back as Cologne failed to put the game beyond doubt with a second goal.

With the result Cologne earned their second consecutive victory to jump to ninth place while Bremen sit at last position with only four points.