It was probably 1. FC Köln’s last chance to perhaps avoid relegation from the Bundesliga for the seventh time. The Rhinelanders took advantage of this opportunity at the last minute in a turbulent duel with sixteenth-placed Mainz 05. Captain Florian Kainz, unlike his colleague Luca Waldschmidt, who had missed Cologne’s first penalty kick (48′), stayed cool in stoppage time and pushed the ball into the right corner of the goal after goalkeeper Zentner’s foul on Adamyan (90’+5).
This means that FC still has a small chance of a big miracle – although they are still five points behind sixteenth-placed Mainz, who, like Cologne, all too often seemed too cramped in this heated duel. Left-back Mwene had to leave the pitch after a serious foul on Mark Uth (90th + 9) after referee Brand showed him the red card.
For a long time it looked as if the 1-0 lead thanks to Barreiro’s goal (28th minute) would be enough for the Rheinhessen team to win in a low-level game, but then the Rhinelanders managed to level the score in the turbulent final phase. “One point is not enough,” said Cologne’s Timo Schultz, “but I’m still proud of my team. We showed incredible morale.”
Search for the key to turning things around
After the depressing 2-0 home defeat against the bottom of the league, Darmstadt 98, a week ago due to a hare-footed attitude, everything should now be different in the penultimate game in Sunday’s game against FSV Mainz, who have been undefeated in five games. This is what Schultz, the successor to coach Steffen Baumgart who was hired by Cologne at the beginning of January, demanded. “First of all, it is important to me that I see a team that plays forward courageously and aggressively, that wants the ball and that tries with all its might to win the game,” was his primary demand.
At least the Cologne team made more of an effort than last to get noticed offensively. After a slightly superior opening quarter of an hour, however, the more powerful Mainz team turned up the heat as they have often done recently. A failed free kick by Cologne midfielder Waldschmidt resulted in a goal-oriented counterattack, from which the initiator Onisiwo forced goalkeeper Schwäbe into a suboptimal save with his shot. Because the blocked ball landed with Barreiro, who was running along, he had no trouble making it 1-0.
Cologne, on the other hand, had to cope with a small knockout three minutes after the break when Waldschmidt, otherwise a sure penalty taker, missed his chance to make it 1-1 and shot the ball past the goal. Coach Schultz continued to look for the key to the turnaround and found it by only subbing in offensive players like Uth, Maina, Downs and Kainz. Cologne’s pressure on the Mainz goal steadily increased and finally paid off – in small coin. The chance that FC can avoid the seventh relegation in the club’s history is still slim.
