Castro-Montes makes Effzeh cheer
©IMAGO
1. FC Cologne missed the big break at Eintracht Frankfurt on the Bundesliga debut of its new head coach René Wagner, but at least saved a point in the fight against relegation. The Rhinelanders fought to a 2-2 (0-0) in the first game after parting ways with former coach Lukas Kwasniok, but remained winless in the eighth game in a row. The game was overshadowed in the final phase by a rescue mission in the stands.
Frankfurt striker Jonathan Burkardt (66th minute) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (69th) gave Eintracht a 2-0 lead with a double strike. But Cologne showed morale and equalized the encounter with goals from Jakub Kamiński (70th) and Alessio Castro-Montes (83rd).
In the Bundesliga table, Cologne remains in 15th place after matchday 28 and is two points ahead of the relegation place occupied by FC St. Pauli. Eintracht remains seventh in the table and missed the chance to win their fourth home game under Spanish coach Albert Riera.
The 37-year-old Wagner almost celebrated his team’s first goal after just 36 seconds. Michael Zetterer was unable to hold on to the ball when Kaminski shot an actually harmless shot. But Cologne attacker Ragnar Ache couldn’t get the ball past the Eintracht keeper and into the goal.
After this early great chance, the home team controlled the game with a lot of possession and often looked for Kalimuendo on the left wing, who caused problems for FC with his speed and repeatedly caused danger with his crosses.
Frankfurt’s first significant opportunity went to Ansgar Knauff, who put his shot next to the left post (24′). The game now became more open. Cologne’s shooting star Saïd El Mala narrowly missed the goal with a shot (26′). Afterwards, both teams had good counterattack chances to take the lead until the break. But Kalimuendo failed from a tight angle to Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe (34′). On the other hand, El Mala put Kaminski in the spotlight perfectly. The Pole received the ball improperly, so that Zetterer was able to prevent the visitors from making it 1-0 at the last moment (41′).
After the break, the game was characterized by tension, with both teams looking for a way forward. But there weren’t any clear chances to score for a long time – also because both Eintracht and FC were always lacking in passing accuracy.
That changed in the 66th minute when substitute Farès Chaïbi prepared the lead for Burkardt with a fine individual move. Then things happened in quick succession: First Kalimuendo increased the lead to 2-0 with a powerful finish, and in return Kaminski shortened the lead with a shot deflected by Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson.
After these furious minutes, the stadium became quiet because of a rescue mission in the stands. Both fan camps were silent, the operation was shielded by the paramedics with tarpaulins. As the paramedics left the stands, Castro-Montes struck to make it 2-2.
