Kainz hits worth seeing
©IMAGO
1. FC Köln won the Bundesliga promotion duel and kicked off the carnival session nine days before the official start. Dressed in the new, specially designed carnival jersey, Ragnar Ache (25th minute), Florian Kainz (48th), the young substitute Said El Mala (90th + 4) and Jakub Kaminski (90th + 9) scored the Rhinelanders to 4-1 (1-0) against Hamburger SV in front of 50,000 spectators. Jean-Luc Dompé (61′) scored in his 100th competitive game for the guests, where Immanuel Pherai (79′) and Fábio Vieira (83′) each saw yellow-red in the final phase.
This was the fourth time that HSV had lost a Sunday game this season and for the first time against FC after five previous games. Given how the game went, the result was a bit too high. Hamburg were unlucky that Vieira’s supposed goal (50th) was overturned shortly after the second goal was conceded after an agonizingly long review by the video referee. The reason given by referee Daniel Schlager in the stadium was lost in the loud cheers of the Cologne fans. Both fan camps shouted “You are destroying our sport” during the minute-long interruption. The scene was one of the many unfortunate VAR decisions recently.
The game only picked up momentum after the break. The largely yawning boredom of the first half was interrupted by Cologne’s curious opening goal. The unfortunate Albert Sambi Lokonga lost the ball in a central position in his own half during the build-up against the pressing Kainz. The Austrian, who started for FC for the first time this season, initially waited far too long to finish, which was blocked by Luka Vuskovic. Hamburg’s Daniel Elfadli cleared Linton Maina’s follow-up shot at the feet of Ache, who then somehow got the ball over the line.
HSV wakes up late – and loses heavily
In addition to Kainz, FC coach Lukas Kwasniok brought another four new players into the starting line-up compared to the 1:4 in the DFB Cup against FC Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Top talent El Mala, among others, only came off the bench this time in the second half. This may have caused some coordination problems. The Cologne team dominated the game, but sometimes acted too awkwardly. HSV relied on counterattacks, but only became dangerous late on.
After the break, Kainz first increased the score with a direct free kick. This was preceded by another unfortunate move by Lokonga, who kicked Maina over. Only then did HSV wake up and push Cologne back. The reward was Dompé’s goal after Vieira’s goal was initially missed. But the Hamburgers were unable to equalize. Instead, Pherai was thrown off the pitch for two fouls within a short space of time – and then Vieira for complaining. In stoppage time, El Mala and Kaminski made everything clear for the hosts. The people of Cologne were dressed in mourning because, according to the club, the former sports director and long-time player and coach of Cologne’s local rivals Fortuna, Hannes Linßen, had died.