Stand: 29.05.2021
5: 1 in Kiel – Cologne remains first class!
1. FC Köln avoided relegation from the Bundesliga with a brilliant 5-1 win at Holstein Kiel. There were four hits in the first 13 minutes.
At the last moment, 1. FC Köln pulls its head out of the noose and remains first class. After the successful victory in the relegation at Holstein Kiel, coach Funkel in particular is celebrated. Above all else, he wants one thing: a shower.
UImmediately after the perfect rescue, Friedhelm Funkel received a beer shower from the professionals at 1. FC Köln. Many Holstein Kiel players sat on the lawn with blank looks or tears in their eyes and hardly noticed the cheering scenes of the opponent. With an early goal spectacle, the Cologne team prevented their own crash into the second division in the last game of the season and abruptly ended KSV Holstein Kiel’s dream of first promotion to the Bundesliga.
After an exciting initial phase, the Bundesliga-16 sat down. on Saturday in the relegation second leg with the clearly inferior second division third well deserved with 5: 1 (4: 1). The Rhinelander made up for the 1-0 defeat in the first leg in an impressive manner in the last game by Retter Funkel as a professional coach.
“The fact that she performed so impressively impressed me,” the 67-year-old Funkel praised his team on the DAZN streaming service. “I enjoyed the seven weeks,” he said of his rescue mission. “I’m completely flat, but happy. Happy that this mission was successfully completed. ”His only wish after the interviews: a shower. “The beer shower shows that we were successful. But I stink terribly. “
Beer shower for coach Funkel
Source: dpa / Carmen Jaspersen
His 34-year-old colleague from Kiel, Ole Werner, tried to see the positive for his team despite the disappointment. “We can be proud of the entire season, even if the end is one that we wanted differently,” he said. “The bottom line was that we had no chance today.”
Skhiri puts the finishing touches
Cologne’s Jonas Hector (3rd) and twice Sebastian Andersson (6th / 13th) scored heads in the first quarter of an hour. In the meantime, Jae-Sung Lee (4th) had equalized for Kiel. Rafael Czichos (39th) ensured the reassuring advantage before the break. Ellyes Skhiri set the acclaimed final point (84th).
Kiel’s coach Werner had pushed the role of favorite to the first division team despite the victory in Cologne on Wednesday. Funkel had gladly accepted this and given himself confidently – and was soon proved right. The 2334 spectators – for the first time in seven months fans were allowed to return to the Holstein Stadium – immediately received a lot of entertainment. A number of supporters from both clubs in front of the arena also heard goal celebrations almost every two minutes.
In the third minute, captain Hector equalized the first leg result. A minute and a half later, Lee equalized for Kiel and brought his team forward again in the overall bill.
But then came the Andersson show: First the permanently ailing Swede met in the sixth minute, and the 29-year-old was there again for seven minutes. Andersson’s double strike had an effect on the Kielers. The Cologne controlled the game from a safe defense and were dangerous forward, especially on their right side with Florian Kainz. Like Andersson, the Austrian was in the starting line-up.
Sparkle is retiring
Despite the fan support, the North Germans hardly managed anything. The exhausting mammoth program in the final phase of the season with now eleven games in just over a month made itself felt early on. After the fourth Cologne goal against the best second division defense by the ex-Kieler Czichos (39th), the dream was over and the Cologne class stay perfect. Skhiri marked the final score after the break. Holstein goalkeeper Ioannis Gelios saved his team from a major defeat.
After a difficult season, the Cologne team prevented the seventh relegation in the club’s history. They had only saved themselves on the relegation place in the Bundesliga final last Saturday by beating Schalke 04. Sparkle is now allowed to return to retirement as a savior. His successor has already been determined in ex-Paderborn’s Steffen Baumgart.
Holstein, however, missed the happy end of a season with many successes such as the victory in the DFB Cup against Bayern Munich and many adversities. The team had lost second place and direct promotion through two defeats on the last two match days of the 2nd Bundesliga. After two corona quarantines, the final phase of the season became a deadline.
“We were punished for every mistake in the last few games,” said midfielder Alexander Mühling. Three years ago, the march through to the Bundesliga was only stopped in the relegation. At that time VfL Wolfsburg was too strong.
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