Hoffenheim climbed out of the Bundesliga relegation zone by playing out a cagey goalless draw with FC Koln at the RheinEnergieStadion.

An early lead should have belonged to the hosts when Philipp Hosiner beat the offside trap to sprint clear of the Hoffenheim defence, but he was unable to beat Oliver Baumann with a low shot.

It soon became the turn of Timo Horn to rescue his side at the opposite end with a fine save to deny Eduardo Vargas after a cross had fallen to the Chilean.

Peter Stoger watched his players dominate possession either side of the break, but clear chances were tough for them to find as Hoffenheim settled for working on the counter-attack.

Modeste twice went close to finding a way through early in the second half as he fired one effort over from the edge of the box, before seeing Baumann push his header past the post.

Hoffenheim rarely threatened the home defence, but they could have snatched the lead against the run of play heading into the closing stages had Kevin Kuranyi found the target after meeting Jonathan Schmid's corner.

Baumann was forced into action once more in stoppage time as he got a strong hand to Leandro Bittencourt's powerful low strike to secure a point for the visitors.