Gerardo Seoane reacted immediately when his colleague Steffen Baumgart replaced attacker Sebastian Andersson in the 77th minute, the next moment he brought in defender Edmond Tapsoba as an antidote for offensive Moussa Diaby. Bayer Leverkusen thus had three defensive players with strong headers, while 1. FC Köln had two strikers with strong headers.
And barely five minutes later, those five men met in the Leverkusen penalty area to take the matter out among themselves. From a dramaturgical point of view, this showdown can actually be imagined as in a western: The two guys from Cologne drew the decisive breath faster, whereupon the three from Leverkusen were not dead in the dust of Tombstone, but defeated on the lawn in Cologne-Müngersdorf.
A cheap Cologne gate? Not at all!
The goal that secured FC 2-2 against Bayer 04 and thus promoted him to the secret derby winner after a long 2-2 deficit, looked at first glance like an extremely cheap goal: Throw-in Kingsley Ehizibue, Andersson header extension, header Anthony Modeste crossed the finish line, that’s how simple the controversy was. “Two headed strikers against three headed central defenders – I think we should have won the duel,” said Swiss coach Seoane.
There was, however, a trace of fatalism in the tone of the reproach – what should one do? “It may be that a goal after a throw-in is a cheap goal”, confirmed the Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich, but the procedure has always been “an effective means”. This goal, he meant to say, was neither a disgrace for the profiteer nor for the injured party.
In times when big data is making its way into football and coaches set up technical command centers at the bench (or, like Julian Nagelsmann, in the kitchen), such a goal may seem anachronistic. But the simple methods will never go out of style, they remain the basis of the game and constant learning material in training. It was almost uncomfortable for Baumgart that the double goal scorer Modeste revealed in a television interview after the game that this figure had been rehearsed during the week: throw-in, header extension.
Before the game, Cologne coach Baumgart provoked Leverkusen twice and three times
Even during the first half against Bayer, Cologne gave them a taste of it. Perhaps they were speculating on the well-known coordination weaknesses in the Leverkusen defense group: Jonathan Tah is – as was seen in Cologne 1: 2 – time and again good for a drastic misjudgment, neighbor Odilon Kossounou, 20, came from Belgium in the summer for a lot of money is still in the getting-to-know-you phase and may for the time being at best be regarded as partially reliable.
Yes, explained Baumgart, “that was already rehearsed, we wanted the ball to get there that way, and if you jump a bit higher, the ball just goes over …”. Over to the teammate, he said. The fact that the trick will end as successful as it did with Modestes 2: 2, but that was only the result of a “millimeter decision” and in general you should “not hang something like that too high,” said the FC trainer.
A typical Baumgart: First he causes a stir with his topics, then he urges prudence. Before the derby, he had provoked the Leverkusen team twice and three times with his statements about the former FC player Florian Wirtz and the importance of the Rhenish audience, then he sent greetings to Bayer sports director Rudi Völler, who fired back vigorously.
Driving force and double goalscorer: Anthony Modeste continues to refute all predictions of his personal relegation with six goals this season and remains the symbol of the newly discovered Cologne team.
(Photo: imago)
This 2: 2 did not damage the relations of the neighbors, especially since Leverkusen turned out to be fair losers. Nobody complained that Cologne had illegally stolen two points from them, the protests were directed against their own address: Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky only exaggerated slightly when he complained about the many counter-chances that were missed – “we had thousands of them!” -, the direction of the criticism was right: In the second half you “just played like that”, Andrich described his team’s loss of course. Some connoisseurs saw in this again symptoms of the Leverkusen hereditary disease, which apparently carries over from player generation to player generation: A lack of seriousness, determination and doggedness – ultimately of motivation.
It was precisely these characteristics that led to the change in Cologne. The Cologne fought their way back, led by the 33-year-old attacker Modeste, whose importance was not limited to scoring goals. Modeste, who continues to refute all predictions of his personal relegation with six goals this season and brilliant appearances, remains the symbol of this newly discovered Cologne team. What looked like a negative trend reversal after a quarter of an hour when the score was 0: 2 – in connection with the recently suffered 0: 5 in Hoffenheim – that was a welcome trend confirmation in the end. Baumgarts FC struggles for the showdown even in a difficult situation – and meanwhile knows how to win it.