Baumgarts HSV has a dream start at the 1. FC Köln
1. FC Köln gets off to a poor start in 2. Bundesliga. They suffer a bitter home defeat against Hamburger SV in a clash of heavyweights. For HSV coach Steffen Baumgart, this is a special game. Match winner is Ransford Königsdoerffer.
- FC Köln got off to a poor start in the jubilee season of the 2. Bundesliga with new coach Gerhard Struber. Exactly 50 years after the founding of the second-highest German league, the Bundesliga relegated team lost the opening game against Hamburger SV and former FC coach Steffen Baumgart, despite a decent performance, 1:2 (0:2). The Hamburg team, however, reinforced their promotion ambitions with a brace from Ransford-Yeboah Königsdoerffer at the start of their seventh season in the second division.
Hamburg was missing top striker Robert Glatzel due to injury, but his replacement Königsdoerffer shocked Cologne before the break: first, he took advantage of a mistake by new Cologne number one Jonas Urbig (3'), then he scored with a rebound to make it 2:0 (35'). Cologne, who were not allowed to sign new players in the summer due to a transfer ban, could not recover from this setback in their first competitive game under Struber, who succeeded Timo Schultz. The late consolation goal by Linton Maina (78') came too late.
"I hope we have answers for a very good Cologne team," emphasized Struber's predecessor Baumgart, who was dismissed in December 2023, on Sat. 1 before the game. His team provided this only to a limited extent, but benefited from Urbig's mistake: the 20-year-old, who was loaned to SpVgg Greuther Fürth last year, failed to hold onto a harmless shot from Jean-Luc Dompe. Königsdoerffer scored and covered up the guests' sluggish start. Because: Cologne was more combinational and active in their first second division game since May 2019, but Dejan Ljubicic and Denis Huseinbasic missed early chances from promising positions (3').
Cologne lacks creativity
Hamburg played robustly and relied on counter-attacks, which Cologne's defensive line, featuring new captain Timo Hübers and 19-year-old debutant Julian Pauli, who was preferred over Dominique Heintz, mostly repelled - until they lost sight of Königsdoerffer again: Urbig deflected a header onto the bar, but the striker finished it off, having only scored two goals in the entire previous season in the 2. Bundesliga.
The hosts failed to equalize against Hamburg's three- or five-man chain before the break. Tim Lemperle, also returned from Fürth, missed a chance to score from five meters, failing to beat HSV keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes (45.+2).
After the break, Cologne fans, some of whom had attended the traditional church service at the cathedral before the season, continued to watch their team struggle. However, they lacked creativity in the penalty area, with HSV captain Sebastian Schonlau often anticipating their moves. "In summary, we did quite well - we just shouldn't have lost," said Cologne's managing director Christian Keller on Sky, lamenting their poor finishing: "If you don't score the goals, then that's how it goes."
Despite FC Köln's decent performance, they missed the opportunity to capitalize on Hamburger SV's mistakes in the 2. Bundesliga match, especially in the penalty area. The Hamburger SV team, with Ransford-Yeboah Königsdoerffer as their key player, managed to secure a crucial 2-1 victory, strengthening their promotion ambitions in Soccer.
