Bielefeld (dpa) – Performance curve up, but weakness at home persists: penultimate table Armenia Bielefeld has not played its first home game of the football season at 1:1 (0:1) against 1. FC Koeln V Eighth attempt won the Bundesliga.
“It was a partial success, but we are happy with every point,” Armenia coach Frank Kramer said. Cologne took the lead early by Salih Ozkan (17th minute) replacing Brian Lasmi (59th), a few moments after being substituted.
Due to the draw in front of 8,231 spectators, the negative streak continues in Cologne: not a single victory has been achieved in seven off-season matches. On the performance, coach Stephen Baumgart said he was upset: “That was a happy point for us. I don’t want to say more about it.”
FC without Hector and Horn
Cologne’s defense chief, Rafael Chicos, explained: “The match was disgusting, the weather was disgusting, and the result was disgusting. We made it very difficult for ourselves.” The match started promising for Cologne, who had to replace injured captain Jonas Hector as well as regular goalkeeper Timo Horn: in the 17th minute, Ozkan scored the visitors’ lead with Cologne’s second chance. After a fine pass from Chikos, Ozkan pushed the ball past goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to score his first goal of the season.
Bielefeld tried to find an answer right away and had a number of good chances as the match progressed. But Fabian Klose (25) failed to stand by himself on the good-responding Schwabe goalkeeper Cologne, Wimmer’s shot (42) shortly before Luca Kilian saved the goal shortly before the goal, in Klose’s next attempt Benno Schmitz kept centimeters from the goal. Line (45 + 3) and Alessandro Schopf (53) shot far from the post. It was only Lasmi who equalized about two minutes after being substituted.
Cologne mistakes go unpunished
The Frenchman’s goal was the well-deserved reward for the effort: despite the early setback, Bielefeld’s side were prepared, showed a committed performance and were in a forward position for extended periods. However, this also benefited from the fact that Cologne’s team repeatedly presented themselves as weak in defense when the opponent came under counter-pressure early on and made a lot of mistakes in midfield. However, Bielefeld lacked the consistency and accuracy to really take advantage of it and make the first home win perfect.
On the other hand, Cologne came dangerously in front of the opponent’s goal after counter-attacks, but then did not finish it properly. Dejan Ljubicic (68th place), for example, played the ball past Sebastian Anderson, who was free in front of the goal, and Florian Kainz hit a free kick from a distance of 20 meters directly into the arms of goalkeeper Ortega.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211204-99-257014 / 3