First game, first point, but above all first frustration: Timo Schultz had a rather disappointing start nine days after he started as coach of 1. FC Köln. FC only managed a 1-1 (1-0) draw against Bundesliga newcomers 1. FC Heidenheim in their first game of the year and are still deep in the table after the debut of Steffen Baumgart’s successor. FC finished the first half of the season with just eleven points, promoted team Heidenheim is already ten points away after four games without defeat. Davie Selke had given Cologne the lead (29th), but Joker Adrian Beck equalized with his first Bundesliga goal (55th).
“It was a good first half for us,” Selke said later on Sky. “Heidenheim played better in the second. We can still build on it. It’s good that we’ve been able to implement a few things.” Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt said: “We didn’t have the quality on the ball in the first half, that was different after the change. We deserved to equalize. If we had played the counterattacks better, perhaps even more would have been possible.”
Schultz, in contrast to Baumgart, who was standing on the line in his blue tracksuit and not only literally in his shirt-sleeves, had voluntarily made no changes to his team at all. Compared to the 0:2 in the last game under Baumgart at Union Berlin, there were only two changes. On the one hand, defense chief Jeff Chabot returned after a yellow-red ban. On the other hand, the injured Mark Uth had to be replaced, which meant captain Florian Kainz came back into the team. The latter caused the only tactical change, because instead of playing on the ten, Kainz moved to Selke as the second striker.
Cologne’s nervousness is evident
The Cologne team started offensively and visibly willing. However, the nervousness quickly became apparent. In the 11th minute, goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe – Cologne’s most consistent player in the first half of the season – shot at FCH striker Tim Kleindienst while attempting a shot, but the ball went past the goal. The people of Heidenheim initially seemed surprisingly calm and stable. But little by little, Cologne found security and showed significant improvement in their forward play compared to the first half of the season.
Denis Huseinbasic had the first big chance, whose shot was brilliantly parried by Heidenheim keeper Kevin Müller (21′). And eight minutes later it got louder in the Cologne stadium than it had in months: Selke was able to reach a cross from Kainz with his back to the goal, then he hit it from the turn with a lucky deflection over the inside of the post and with a save from Patrick Mainka behind him Line.
The relief among the Cologne fans, who tried to motivate the team on Friday with a pyrotechnic show during the final training session, was palpable. It could have turned around quickly if Schwäbe hadn’t held up outstandingly against Heidenheim’s veteran Norman Theuerkauf in his 250th competitive game for FCH (35th).
After the change, the guests did more offensively. The scene in the 51st minute was curious when Rasmus Carstensen shot the ball right into the feet of Kleindienst during a rescue operation, but he was too surprised and shot over from four meters. Four minutes later it happened when Beck, who had only been substituted at half-time, scored from 14 meters after a blocked corner without any opposition pressure.
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Schultz brought in Justin Diehl, who was considered an exceptional talent and who was never part of the squad under Baumgart because of his refusal to extend the contract in the first half of the season. The 19-year-old set a few accents and was allowed to shoot corners and free kicks. But first Heidenheim was on the trigger, Kleindienst headed just wide (68′). In the end, Cologne threw everything forward again, but were unlucky when a shot from Jan Thielmann slipped through Müller’s arms but hit the inside post – and from there it didn’t hit the goal this time (80th).
