1. FC Cologne sent a small sign of life in the fight against relegation from the Bundesliga with a surprising point win against Champions League contenders VfB Stuttgart. Coach Timo Schultz’s guests fought to a 1-1 (0-0) draw with the Swabians on Saturday. Eric Martel quickly equalized VfB’s lead from Enzo Millot (53rd minute) in front of 54,500 spectators (62nd).
“If you want to play internationally,” said VfB captain Waldemar Anton with a serious look, “then you have to win games like this to your side.” At the same time, he agreed with his teammate Angelo Stiller, who accused himself and the entire team of arrogance on Sky. “Until 1-0 we were clearly the better team, we played dominantly, but we didn’t score the goals,” analyzed the annoyed Stiller. After the opening goal, “we played arrogantly, too sleepy, too slow.”
Table 16. from Cologne has not come any closer to the non-relegation places despite gaining points. The clearly favored Swabians meanwhile missed their fifth win in a row, but as third in the table they still have a cushion over their pursuers in the fight for qualification for the premier class.
“You can’t talk around it anymore – we want to play internationally. That’s the goal,” said the paused VfB striker Deniz Undav before the game on Sky: “We’re trying to be as successful as possible and then we’ll see whether it’s enough for the Europa League or the Champions League.” At the 2 :0 in the first leg in Cologne, Undav scored his first two Bundesliga goals. This time the European Championship candidate was missing due to a torn muscle fiber. Waldemar Anton and substitute goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow were fit in time from a VfB trio who had also been ailing during the week. Maximilian Mittelstädt initially only sat on the bench.
For the guests, defender Timo Hübers was out for a short time, while offensive talent Justin Diehl, who is said to be courted by VfB, was put into the starting line-up for the first time. His teammate Jan Thielmann had the first promising chance when he tested Bredlow in the 3rd minute.
After about a quarter of an hour, however, the hosts put Cologne under increasing pressure in a period of pressure. Woo-yeong Jeong failed with two shots in quick succession against Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe (14th). A few minutes later, the South Korean crossed to Serhou Guirassy, whose header flew just wide of the left post. And Enzo Millot also missed the lead (23rd).
Not satisfied: VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß : Image: AFP
But the Stuttgart team didn’t succeed in everything either. So the Swabians didn’t convert their playful superiority into anything countable. The Cologne team revealed their well-known problems in building up the game; they managed to get a shot from Diehl on a counterattack (21′).
After the break, the Cologne team waited on the pitch until the hosts came out of the locker room. But the Swabians were brighter and used a nice combination to make it 1-0. Chris Führich played a one-two with Hiroki Ito on the left and then set up for Millot. The midfielder converted from close range.
Cologne coach Timo Schultz reacted to the deficit with a double substitution and sent Linton Maina and Faride Alidou onto the pitch after an hour. And that immediately paid off. Martel used a cross from Maina to equalize.
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On the side of the dominant VfB, Silas Katompa Mvumpa, Mittelstädt and Mahmoud Dahoud should bring new impetus. Millot missed a promising chance to win (68th). After some negligence in the VfB defense on the other side, Alidou ran towards goalkeeper Bredlow but shot wide of the goal (82′).
