18th matchday
Berlin (dpa) – Steffen Baumgart, relieved, adjusted his flat cap and stretched his fingers up in front of the sparsely occupied grandstand. Cool, cooler, Cologne.
1. FC Köln continued its upward trend in the Bundesliga with enormous effectiveness and made the leap to a European Cup place after a 3-1 (2-0) win at Hertha BSC. Anthony Modeste (30th minute), ex-Berlin Ondrej Duda (32nd) and Jan Thielmann (90th + 1) scored the goals for the billy billy goats in the lousy cold Olympic Stadium at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga.
Discouraged performance of the Berliners
Three wins in a row and four away games without defeat lifted the Cologne team to sixth place. “The conditions were difficult, that was true for both teams. We implemented a lot of what we set out to do. We could have done the fourth and fifth. Hertha came through more set pieces. We tried again and again to play forward The playing system was right. The boys did a good job. I’m completely satisfied, “said Cologne coach Baumgart at DAZN and Luca Kilian already looked at the game against industry leaders FC Bayern next weekend:” We’re trying to annoy them again. “
For the hapless Hertha, for whom Vladimir Darida (57th) could only shorten, however, a series of five home games ended without defeat. The relegation place remains only three meters away as a threatening backdrop. The 2000 spectators allowed in Berlin acknowledged the overall too discouraged performance after the Cologne double blow with whistles.
“We had opportunities to score in the first half. Then we were 1-0 down. That’s a shame. After 2-1, it was our turn. We did well with the ball, but we were in the last few actions we’re not so calm. We have to stay calm and aren’t allowed to concede so many goals in the back, “said Berlin goalscorer Darida.
Corona dictated the Hertha agenda in the short preparation. After what seemed like daily reports of new cases of infection, there was actually positive news on the day of the game. Santiago Ascacibar was ready to play, Lucas Tousart was at least sitting on the bench. So coach Tayfun Korkut in Dedryck Boyata and Ishak Belfodil were ultimately only two starting XI candidates due to the pandemic.
Cologne’s coach Baumgart reacted to his necessary personnel change with a humbug attitude, stoically calm. Luca Kilian replaced Rafael Czichos, who had migrated to Chicago, as central defender. No problem at all, according to Baumgart’s signal, which his team also implemented.
Hertha leaves opportunities
The stable Hertha home series since the beginning of October had few in the public, eternally negative positioning of the capital city clubs. But Korkut let play forward as a matter of course. Myziane Maolida (4th) shot past. Marko Richter (9th) missed a cross from Davie Selke.
Hertha seemed organized and focused. Until Maolida (28th) failed completely free to Marvin Schwänke. The FC goalkeeper collected plus points with his parade in Baumgart’s goalkeeping competition with Timo Horn. And typically Hertha: an accident seldom comes alone. In return, Mark Uth found Modeste with a great flank, who demonstrated Maolida how cool you have to be.
Duda quickly followed up with his low shot with the friendly help of Alexander Schwolow. The Hertha statics quickly start to falter. No goalkeeper in the Bundesliga has conceded more goals this season (37). After all, Schwolow prevented even worse trouble against Modeste (41st).
There was an injury-related change at the break. Referee Tobias Stieler was eliminated with a strain and was replaced by Alexander Sather. Cologne continued to play solidly at first. But this time the Berliners were there with a hello-wake effect. Darida’s free kick sailed past the this time unlucky Schwab into the far corner. Hertha brought itself into trouble. Schwolow had to parry a risky back pass from Niklas Stark with his hand, he parried the due indirect free kick from Uth (68th). Only at the front did Hertha no longer have an answer. Thielmann finally decided the game with a counterattack.
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