Thanks to a strong team performance, 1. FC Köln has already clinched its second Bundesliga win of the season. The team of coach Steffen Baumgart won on the third matchday against promoted VfL Bochum with 2: 1 (0: 0). While Cologne are now in the upper half of the table with six points, Bochum remain at three points.
The fans of 1. FC Köln celebrated their favorites with La Ola: The billy goats’ 2: 1 (0: 0) against newly promoted VfL Bochum had barely been whistled when the big party began in the RheinEnergie Stadium. The Cologne players were frenetically celebrated by the fans – the six-point start made the FC fan base overjoyed.
Coach Steffen Baumgart had a lucky hand with the substitutions of Louis Schaub and Tim Lemperle, because the two jokers stood out. Substitute four minutes earlier, Schaub scored the leading goal in an Austrian co-production with Florian Kainz (82nd), while 19-year-old Tim Lemperle (90 + 1) made everything clear in the 71st minute. The ex-Cologne Simon Zoller (90 + 4) only hit the connecting gate.
“We controlled the game from start to finish, it’s a shame that we conceded the goal,” said FC striker Anthony Modeste, who had two bad luck with aluminum this time around Sky-Microphone.
The Bundesliga returnee from Bochum, however, mourned one point. “If the score is 0-0 in the 80th minute, you mustn’t lose the ball in the forward movement,” said VfL keeper Manuel Riemann Sky. The Westphalians still have three counters on the account and are in the middle of the table. Zoller added: “We struggled at the beginning, the loss of the ball in the 80th minute broke our necks.”
Strong start for 1. FC Köln
For the first time since March 2020, guest fans were again admitted to the RheinEnergie Stadium among the 25,000 spectators, almost all of whom had to be vaccinated or recovered.
Baumgart changed his team to three positions compared to the 3-2 defeat at Bayern Munich last Sunday. Ondrej Duda, Sebastian Andersson and Benno Schmitz started for Marc Uth (back problems), Jan Thielmann (infection) and Kingsley Ehizibue (bank).
The Cologne team also took control immediately after kick-off and tried to put pressure on the low-lying Bochumers, especially on the outside. In the fourth minute of the game, the home side had a great opportunity to take the lead. Anthony Modeste, however, failed with his shot from close range at the post.
Modeste meets aluminum twice
In the aftermath, the FC tried again on the right side. After 15 minutes, the ball floundered in the net for the first time, but Dejan Ljubicic’s goal was disallowed after video evidence for handball. Duda (33.) and Ellyes Skhiri (41.) had further opportunities to take the lead.
It took Bochum a long time to find the game. It was only after more than half an hour that the guests came near the goal for the first time, but without reaching a significant conclusion (34th).
The Bochum team then had the first chance in the second round. Sebastian Polter’s header landed on the goal net (51.). Nevertheless, the Cologne team, who were more grippy in the duels, dominated the game, but rarely found a gap in the compact Bochum back team, as with captain Jonas Hector (68th) or Modest’s second goal post (73rd).
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