Borussia Mönchengladbach celebrated a sovereign victory in the derby against 1. FC Köln. The 5:2 was the first success against the Rhenish rivals after the last three defeats.
Daniel Farke stood on the center line with a satisfied smile and watched with relish as his team was celebrated by the Borussia Mönchengladbach fans in the north stand. “Derby winner, derby winner, hey, hey!” chanted the supporters – the relief at the end of the black series against arch-rivals 1. FC Köln was palpable.
“It’s going down like oil. The atmosphere is great, it was an all-round successful Sunday afternoon,” said Gladbach’s national player Jonas Hofmann after the clear 5: 2 (2: 1). DAZN. Most recently, Borussia had lost three times against Cologne, and under the new coach Farke, the highest derby win since 2011 was achieved on Sunday.
“It was deserved,” Hofmann clarified: “The only drawback: we could have been a little more precise here and there.” Christoph Kramer said: “It was an incredibly important win, not just for the table, but for the atmosphere as a whole.”
Goal debutant Marvin Friedrich (27th), Ramy Bensebaini with a penalty kick (45th + 2) and low shot (76th) as well as captain Lars Stindl (47th) and Marcus Thuram (90th + 1) ensured the success in front of 54,042 spectators , in the table the Farke-Elf passed Cologne in sixth place. Florian Kainz also equalized in the meantime with a penalty kick (31st), but also initiated the defeat with his yellow-red card before the 1:2. Denis Huseinbasic (83rd) still scored the second Cologne goal.
Gladbach – Cologne: Kainz and Hofmann twice in focus
“With a hot heart but a cool head” Borussia should meet the snappy Cologne team, Farke had demanded before the kick-off. The 95th Bundesliga duel between the rivals was nevertheless a heated affair from the start, which was characterized more by duels and discussions with the referee than by playful brilliance.
The Fohlenelf were initially better in the game, Thuram had the first good chance after a nice dribbling from a tight angle (10th). While Farke made no changes compared to the 5-1 defeat in Bremen, Cologne’s Steffen Baumgart relied on his best team after the unsuccessful rotation against Belgrade (0-1).
Unlike in April, when it was already 0:3 after 34 minutes, Borussia was present in the duels – and was rewarded: After a corner by Hofmann, Friedrich headed his first goal in the Borussia jersey. The joy was short-lived, however, after viewing the video images, referee Sven Jablonski awarded Cologne a penalty. Kainz, previously fouled by Hofmann, converted safely.
Jablonski was also the focus just before the break. Kainz and Hofmann clashed again, but this time in the other penalty area and with the Gladbacher as the victim. Kainz, who had already been warned, was sent off, Bensebaini skilfully sent goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe from the point.
Any Cologne ambitions were quickly dampened after the restart: Ondrej Duda frittered away the ball against Julian Weigl, Stindl hit the corner powerfully from 20 meters. After that almost only Borussia played.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – 1. FC Cologne: The data for the game
