That was very close for 1. FC Köln: The team of coach Baumgart has a long hard time against ripped-off Berliners – in the final phase it gets dramatic.
What an energy performance of the 1. FC Cologne. The “Effzeh” fought 2: 2 (1: 2) against on Sunday Union Berlin and thus avoided the third defeat in the last four Bundesliga games. The strong Anthony Modeste (7th, 86th) saved the team of coach Steffen Baumgart with his double, Julian Ryerson (9th) and Grischa Prömel (45th + 1) had temporarily turned the game for clever Berliners.
Modeste, who saved the point four minutes before the end, has now scored the FC’s last six competitive goals. The eleventh place in the table from Cologne won four days before the start of the session on November 11th. in the carnival jersey with confetti design, the first point in the fifth first division duel with the feared opponent. The Berliners are eighth, two points behind the fourth Wolfsburg, which they would have overtaken with a win. After the international break, Union continues with the explosive city duel against Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga.
Rapid start in Cologne
The 50,000 spectators in the Cologne arena saw a rapid start. And the Cologne among them only had to wait until the seventh minute to cheer Modeste’s next goal. After a shot from Florian Kainz on the crossbar, the Frenchman switched quickly, stopped the ball with his thigh and pushed it into the empty goal from three meters.
125 seconds later, the Cologne team gave up the lead when Ryerson slid the ball into the right corner from 18 meters, completely unrestricted. The Norwegian, who waited 46 Bundesliga appearances for his first goal, scored in the second game in a row.
How many emotions were involved was shown by a curious scene in the 17th minute. Modeste built himself up with a free kick in front of Union keeper Andreas Luthe and kept jumping into view so that he could not direct his defensive wall with a free kick. Luthe pushed him away with both hands, both saw yellow.
Modeste struck shortly before the end
However, most of the action took place in midfield. Before the break, the Cologne team turned it up again, but Modeste headed past (38th) and Ondrej Duda hit the outside netting (41st). Instead, Union took the lead. Prömel took the ball after a bad pass from Rafael Czichos, played one-two with Genki Haraguchi and pushed in. Seconds later, Awoniyi shot over it from five meters.
After the break, FC put pressure on, Baumgart tirelessly pushed his team forward in a short-sleeved polo shirt at nine degrees Celsius. Hector quickly had a good chance with his head (54th), but overall opportunities against disciplined guests were rare. Three days after the disappointing 2-1 draw against Feyenoord Rotterdam in the European Conference League, the Berliners seemed to have everything under control – until Modeste struck for the second time.