Status: 10/24/2021 5:15 p.m.
Sold out stadium, great atmosphere in Cologne and a “felt” winner in the Rhenish classic: 1. FC Cologne made up for a deficit against Bayer Leverkusen and celebrated the 2-2 (0-2) remis.
With a double strike within 100 seconds, the guests from Leverkusen took the lead through Patrik Schick and Karim Bellarabi and looked like the sure winner after a strong first half. But the Cologne turned the game in the second half and especially cheered their goal getter. Anthony Modeste equalized in a great football game with his two goals (63rd / 82nd). For Cologne it was a small success after three derby defeats.
“We turned the game around, that’s our strength this season. It’s our living room, you can’t win that easily,” said match winner Modeste, who was celebrated with standing ovations and chants on his lap of honor.
Corona very far away
The conditions for the Rhenish classic couldn’t have been better even before the start. Bright October sunshine over the stadium in Cologne-Müngersdorf and for the first time a full house in Corona times: 50,000 fans – sold out!
It started accordingly atmospheric. And the Cologne fans immediately shot at Florian Wirtz. The young national player from Leverkusen and “prodigal son”, who moved to the other side of the Rhine at the age of 17, was accompanied by shrill whistles every time the ball touched the ball. Even FC coach Steffen Baumgart added his mustard to the spicy change from the beginning of last year shortly before the derbyto fuel the game.
Wirtz initiates goals
In the 16th minute of the game, however, it was suddenly quiet in the stadium, because Wirtz – unimpressed by the Cologne audience – had put Diaby in the limelight with a soulful pass, Diaby went straight to Schick, who also networked with a contact – a skilful ball relay, which the Cologne people could only watch. As if that weren’t enough, the Werkself made it 2-0 two minutes later.
Again Wirtz initiated the goal when he danced out several opponents on the edge of the penalty area, played to Robert Andrich, who in turn passed on to the completely detached Bellarabi. The ex-national player drove the ball into the goal unsustainably with his first goal of the season.
Frimpong gives away the 3-0
Especially with the super-fast switching moments of the Bayer-Elf, Cologne could not cope with the further course. The FC almost conceded the 0: 3, but the too casual Jeremie Frimpong failed after another turbo attack from the best position on the crossbar.
Twice, however, the Cologne team also reported through the returned Jonas Hector (33rd / 44th) with a good long-range shot and a failed header.
Modeste very cool
The subsequent hit did not want to fall initially. The mood in the stands remained at the top level, even if Leverkusen initially built on the strong first half. But the goal fell on the other side. Perfect cross from Hector, Modeste calmly stopped and pushed in to make it 1: 2 – his fifth goal of the season. Now the FC fans celebrated like in the very best pre-Corona times. “We knew that if we scored a goal, the stadium would be there, and that’s how it turned out,” said FC captain Hector afterwards.
The FC – driven by its unique fans – suddenly put more pressure on, also because the Leverkusen-based team withdrew far too much in the face of the melted leadership. The sun was still shining, but the game was now unrecognizable compared to the first half.
Leverkusen’s coach Gerardo Seoane tried to stop the trend of the game by changing players, but FC had long since taken control of the game – and he was rewarded. Sebastian Andersson extended a throw-in with his head, Modeste boiled Kossounou and scored again. The best carnival atmosphere was now in the stands.
In the end, after this game, it was a success, especially for FC, and Leverkusen served. “If you fall from 2-2 to 2-2 as the leading team in the derby, it feels like a defeat. We could have led 3-0, 4-0 through counter situations and then we switch off, that pisses me off” , scolded goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
FC now against Stuttgart and Dortmund
FC will now face VfB Stuttgart in the second round of the cup on Wednesday (8.45 p.m.). In the league, the away game at Borussia Dortmund is on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Leverkusen will host the second division Karlsruher SC cup on Wednesday at 6.30 p.m. and VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday at 3.30 p.m.
Source: sportschau.de