The Cologne team started furiously with a double chance. In the 4th minute, Meppen’s keeper Matthis Harsman made two saves against Patrick Sontheimer. He let his first shot bounce off to the side, and when
Luca Marseiler Sontheimer put on the second try with a hoe, Harsmann cleared with his foot to the corner.
Cold shower after a corner
A corner of Meppen then gave the hosts a cold shower. They couldn’t clear the ball in the penalty area, so it landed on Lars Bünning after Markus Ballmert’s attempt to shoot failed. He solved it artistically from close range with his back to the goal and scored to make it 1-0 (11th minute).
However, Cologne remained the more active and, above all, more dangerous team. After a strong pass from Simon Handle, Harsmann was just able to clear Cologne’s Lenn Jastremski at the edge of the penalty area (15′). The Meppen goalkeeper was also on hand when Handle himself took a shot from 16 meters (18′) and Jastremski tried again shortly afterwards (20′).
Bünning also scores for Viktoria
After these missed chances to equalize, the game lost momentum – with occasional dangerous moments from Meppen when Cologne made mistakes in the build-up game. The next big opportunity came from a free kick by Marcel Risse. When Harsmann was still directing the wall, Risse quickly pulled away, but Harsmann was in the right corner in time and cleared (41′).
Bünning did what no Cologne player could do shortly after the break, when he headed a Sontheimer cross past Harsmann into his own goal (49′). The shock of this goal only lasted a few minutes, when Meppen’s Viktorias keeper Moritz Nicolas took center stage.
Nicolas prevents Meppen’s second goal
Nicolas had to rescue several times in dire need. He narrowed the angle well against Morgan Faßbender (57′), made a good save on Luka Tankulić’s shot and, following the corner, thwarted the next big chance (59′).
Many changes, first the Meppener – in a phase in which they were close to 2:1 – and later the Cologne, slowed down the game noticeably. In addition, it became increasingly clear that both teams could live well with the draw with a view to staying up. This was no longer really in danger in the final phase.