After the two-week international break, both Union Berlin and 1. FC Köln found it extremely difficult to play in the first half and rarely appeared dangerously in front of the opponent’s goal. The first serious end of the game was scored by Cologne’s Mark Uth, who put an Ehizibue cross two meters wide of the left post (22′).
Union focused on a stable defense in the first half and only had two decent opportunities with Sheraldo Becker’s shot from a tight angle (26′) and Rani Khedira’s long-range shot (35′).
The Cologne team, who were also unimaginative for long stretches, hardly knew what to do with their ball possession advantages. FC captain Jonas Hector missed the best FC chance in the first half (39′) as a result of a flipper pass over Uth and Trimmel, which was characteristically accidental.
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It was also Hector who put Cologne behind with a serious blackout. The ex-international failed to see opponent Taiwo Awoniyi on his back pass to keeper Marvin Schwäbe and had to watch the Nigerian score his twelfth goal of the season unchallenged from nine meters out (49′).
Even after taking the lead, Union remained the more accommodating team in attack, Timo Baumgartl headed a free-kick cross from Nico Gießelmann into the side netting from a tight angle (63′).
The guests from Cologne disappointed offensively without the injured top scorer Anthony Modeste and did not score a single shot on goal in the entire second round – apart from a Schaub free kick intended as a cross in the final seconds.
The voices:
Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin): “It was a tough game between two teams with a great mentality. We knew that Cologne were dangerous from the crosses. We wanted to prevent that and we did it well.”
Robin Knoche (Union Berlin): “It’s nice that the fans are back. Both teams worked very hard. It wasn’t much for Feinschmecker in front of goal, but today it’s only the points that count.”
Steffen Baumgart (Coach 1. FC Cologne): “We lost 1-0 through a mistake that can happen. We couldn’t get through up front and we made one mistake. You have to live with that. Overall, we made too many gifts today.”
Jonas Hector (1. FC Köln): “It was a hard-fought game with relatively few chances to score. In the last third we weren’t goal-oriented and determined enough. When we conceded, I wanted to pass the goalkeeper and played the ball too far forward. Unfortunately, that’s what happened.”
The tweet about the game:
That was noticeable: unlucky Hector
Cologne’s usually reliable captain Jonas Hector didn’t have a good day against Union Berlin and in the end had a lot of responsibility for Cologne’s defeat in Berlin. His inexplicable blackout, in which he tried to play an unchallenged pass to goalkeeper Schwäbe from the left corner of the box, became the perfect template for Awoniyi. Hector hadn’t counted on the Nigerian, stopped dead immediately after his failed pass and saw the disaster coming immediately.
The stats: 761
For the first time in more than two years – for exactly 761 days – the stadium at the Alte Försterei including the return of the Union Ultras was completely sold out with 22,012 spectators.
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