Sport Gladbach vs. Cologne
“That was insane” – a derby with two heroes
Status: 09.03.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
The spectators in Borussia Park see a furious duel between two rivals. There are two heroes in the 3-3 draw, the feeling is mixed in both the Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln camps.
This March 9, 2024 could once go down as a great day of liberation from Cologne’s perspective. In any case, 1. FC, a chronic candidate for relegation this season, took a big step forward on Saturday to at least make it possible to stay in the Bundesliga through relegation.
In the derby against their little-appreciated Rhenish neighbors Borussia Mönchengladbach, Cologne not only scored an incredibly important point with the 3:3 (1:1) score – since the competition in the bottom of the table remained pointless, coach Timo Schultz’s team was even the big winner of the afternoon . With 18 points, the table was 16th. increased its lead over its opponents Mainz (1:8 in Munich) to two points. The difference between last team Darmstadt (0-2 in Leipzig) is now five points.
However, afterwards you had to worry a little about the Cologne coach’s hair. “Everyone who came to the stadium today didn’t regret it, there was a lot going on: a spectacle in front of both goals,” Schultz explained to Sky after the final whistle. “I’ve just said it in the team circle: any more games like this and I’ll get gray hairs. On the one hand, it was fun because we weren’t necessarily into spectacles until now. In one direction it looked a lot like what I imagined, and in the other direction we simply allowed too much.”
Mixture of pride and discontent
As befits a wild exchange of blows, there were two men of the game. Faride Alidou scored Cologne’s first two goals (7th, 64th) and created a great atmosphere among the traveling supporters. Robin Hack (71st, 73rd) was successful with a brace – the winger scored with his first touch of the ball just a minute after coming on as a substitute.
FC striker Faride Alidou (4th from left) scores with a header to make it 2-1 for Cologne
Source: dpa
Afterwards, he also revealed a mixture of pride and displeasure – in keeping with the wave-like emotional fluctuations. “In a game like that, so emotional, and then you still get the equalizer: that really pisses me off,” admitted Hack. “That was insane,” he said about his celebration run after his goal to make it 3-2. “I was incredibly happy. I was hoping that we would pull this off, but I realized that we wanted too much after that. We then had one or two ball losses where we let Cologne come back. And yes, he scored the goal well, but we shouldn’t actually get that.”
Mönchengladbach’s Robin Hack (r.) celebrates his goal to make it 3-2
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa
He, that was Damion Downs, capped off the six-goal spectacle with the goal to make it 3-3 (79′). Schultz said the Cologne youngster had earned the substitution through strong training performances.
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“We would do well to secure 16th place first,” said Cologne defense chief Timo Hübers about the point gain. “It’s going to be difficult going up.” The gap to 15th place, which VfL Bochum holds, is seven points.
