Victory in Darmstadt: Cologne leaves the relegation places
Davie Selke has fired 1. FC Köln to their second win of the season in the Bundesliga and into a non-relegation place, at least overnight. The striker scored in the 60th minute on Friday evening to make it 1:0 (0:0) in the basement duel at promoted SV Darmstadt 98, for whom it was already their fourth home defeat.
Thanks to their superior goal difference, Cologne moved up nine points ahead of their rivals in 15th place, with Champions League contenders 1. FC Union Berlin (7), who have to play FC Bayern Munich on Saturday, now sit bottom of the table.
Right from the kick-off, the 17,810 spectators witnessed a fiercely contested match in which both teams revealed deficits in their play. Long and high was mostly the motto, which proved to be of little use. Chances were in short supply on both sides.
After a good 20 minutes, Darmstadt's Marvin Mehlem had to leave the pitch with an ankle injury. The previously agile attacker had been fouled by Florian Kainz shortly beforehand. Veteran Tobias Kempe came on for Mehlem.
Nothing went forward for the Hessians now. But FC, who had significantly more possession, also struggled and remained harmless in attack. As a result, neither goalkeeper had to make a single save in the first half as neither team managed to get a shot on target.
There was only a brief moment of excitement when Cologne's Luca Kilian went down in the Darmstadt penalty area and the visitors demanded a penalty. However, referee Patrick Ittrich rightly allowed play to continue.
After the changeover, it remained a tough battle of attrition, in which the home side now acted a little more purposefully and had their first opportunity. Tim Skarke narrowly missed the FC goal with a shot.
At the other end, Dejan Ljubicic had the visitors in front but failed to beat Lilies goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen from an acute angle. Shortly afterwards, however, Cologne were celebrating: A corner kick from Luca Waldschmidt was unfortunately headed over by Darmstadt's Mathias Honsak at the feet of Selke, who finished effortlessly from five meters.
Just six minutes later, Waldschmidt made it 2:0 for Cologne. However, the goal was disallowed after video evidence because it had previously been ruled offside. Shortly afterwards, the video assistant intervened again after Ittrich had awarded a penalty for the home side. After viewing the TV images, the referee revised his decision.
Lilies coach Torsten Lieberknecht brought on fresh players in the closing stages, but the visitors continued to have the better chances. Waldschmidt and substitute Max Finkgräfe both failed to beat Schuhen shortly before the end.
Source: www.dpa.com
