Sports Bundesliga
“That shouldn’t happen to us like that” – Cologne goes down against Leipzig
As of: 11:23 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
1. FC Köln, which is threatened with relegation, has no chance in the home game against RB Leipzig. And suffered the biggest defeat in his stadium in twelve years. The fans of the traditional club caused a scandal with chants during the game.
Nine days after the bitter round of 16 defeat against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig has sent an impressive signal in the fight for a direct return to the Champions League. At 1. FC Cologne, 16th in the table, the Saxons scored a deserved 5:1 (1:1) at the start of the 26th matchday and moved past Borussia Dortmund into the coveted fourth place for at least two nights.
BVB can overtake Eintracht Frankfurt again with a win on Sunday, but a draw wouldn’t be enough. In contrast, FC is threatened with falling into a direct relegation zone eight match days before the end of the season. For Cologne it was the heaviest home defeat since a 1:6 against Dortmund in March 2012.
“We collapsed in the second half. We let them play there. This shouldn’t happen to us like this. “You can’t explain why we collapse like that after 1:2,” said Cologne’s Sargis Adamyan on DAZN. “We have to make the spaces tighter. We’re not brimming with self-confidence now.” Leipzig’s national player Benjamin Henrichs said: “It’s a very good feeling to win here. That was a good performance. So we can go into the international break. It’s not that easy here in Cologne.”
David Raum reacts to fans singing
Xavi Simons had put the Saxons in the lead (15th minute), FC quickly equalized through Sargis Adamyan’s first Bundesliga goal in 559 days (18th). But Loïs Openda made things clear with a “double” (63rd/67th). The Belgian, who came from Lens in the summer, now has 19 goals to his name this season. Amadou Haidara (70th) and Yussuf Poulsen (82nd) followed up. “A good away performance. We scored some nice goals,” said Leipzig coach Marco Rose.
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Some Cologne fans were negative during the game, chanting several times: “We hate East Germany!” Leipzig defender David Raum said after the final whistle: “Cologne has awesome fans. When such chants come, I don’t know what to say, but we responded on the pitch.”
By Xavi Simons’ celebration after the 1-0 win, Cologne fans felt provoked and threw objects onto the lawn. During a corner kick in front of the corner, a thrown glass bottle from the FC block narrowly missed the RB professional.
Cologne’s Florian Kainz, Sargis Adamyan and Denis Huseinbasic (from left) had no chance against RB
Those: dpa/Federico Gambarini
It was a good game with Leipzig clearly superior in terms of play and Cologne initially putting up a brave fight. It took a quarter of an hour for the first good opportunity to score – but that immediately made it 0-1.
Xavi Simons completed a great move with his right foot following preparatory work from Dani Olmo and Benjamin Sesko. The Dutchman scored 1-0 for his club for the sixth time this season. Only Bayern star Harry Kane managed to do this more often.
Sargis Adamyan equalizes for Cologne
The acknowledgment followed promptly when FC equalized just three minutes later: After a corner from Florian Kainz and a header from Eric Martel, Adamyan evaded Leipzig’s Benjamin Henrichs and pushed the ball over the line from two meters. But after that Leipzig got the game under control.
After half an hour, Sesko missed a huge opportunity when he hit the ball over the crossbar from three meters after a save from Marvin Schwäbe against Olmo. Five minutes before the break, Henrichs missed from a promising position. The strong Olmo took the excess of chances to the extreme with a shot off the post and Openda failed from three meters to Schwäbe in stoppage time.
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After the substitution, the game initially remained one-sided in favor of the guests, but the Cologne team set the highlight with a spectacular scissor strike from Max Finkgräfe (54′).
When Openda completed another dream combination via Sesko and Xavi and then headed in a cross from David Raum, it was initially completely quiet in the Cologne World Cup stadium. The FC fans picked themselves up again, but things got even worse for Cologne on the pitch. Many spectators left the stadium before the final whistle.
The Cologne team has now been without a win for six league games. There will be an international break next week and the FC will travel to Spain for a training camp.
