Halle leaves the relegation zone after 2:1 against Viktoria Köln
Hallesche FC have left the relegation zone of the 3rd soccer league with their fourth win of the season. Coach Sreto Ristic's charges won their home match against eighth-placed Viktoria Köln 2:1 (0:1) on Sunday. The visitors took a 1:0 lead through Luca Marseiler in the 36th minute. The home side turned the game around with goals from Erich Berko (64') and Julian Eitschberger (75') in front of 6187 spectators at the Leuna-Chemie-Stadion.
The home side got off to a furious start. Timur Gayret tested Cologne goalkeeper Ben Voll in the very first minute. Enrique Lofolomo (20) narrowly missed the opposing goal. The visitors had their first opportunity on 23 minutes, which HFC goalkeeper Moritz Schulze thwarted with a foot save from Marseiler. Ten minutes later, the Cologne striker made the most of his second chance, finishing off a counter-attack by the visitors.
The deficit did not rattle the home side. They continued to dominate proceedings on the pitch after the restart. Voll prevented Eitschberger (58, 60) from equalizing twice. However, the Cologne goalkeeper then made a momentous mistake, which Berko capitalized on with a 30-metre lob to equalize. Eleven minutes later, Eitschberger crowned his strong performance with his first goal of the season to put HFC ahead.
The victory against Viktoria Köln propelled Hallesche FC from the danger zone in the 3rd league's soccer standings. Despite losing the initial lead, the Hall's team managed to score in the second half at their home arena, the Leuna-Chemie-Stadion, marked by a 2:1 triumph over the 8th placed team.
Source: www.dpa.com
