1. FC Köln feels cheated in the 0-1 (0-0) defeat against SV Werder Bremen. Once again the VAR takes center stage.
It was the 87th minute of the game when 1. FC Köln once again had hope. After a foul, Max Finkgräfe picked up the ball around 25 meters in front of the Bremen goal. The 19-year-old scored his first Bundesliga goal from a similar position a week ago in Hoffenheim.
This time, however, the youngster got stuck in the wall when the score was 0-1. The ball was deflected and dripped down the right five-meter corner when suddenly a loud murmur went through Müngersdorf. Werder keeper Michael Zetterer went up and wanted to punch the ball away. However, the goalkeeper missed the ball and instead hit Luca Kilian with his knee in the back.
The Cologne central defender no longer had a chance to get to the ball himself and fell to the ground. However, referee Daniel Siebert did not whistle and the VAR in the Cologne basement did not turn on, as was the case last time against VfL Wolfsburg after a clear handball.
Schultz remains calm about the penalty scene
Much to the annoyance of the billy goats, who saw themselves deprived of the chance to make it 1-1. Florian Kainz spoke of a “clear penalty” that Siebert would not have given. “It’s incomprehensible to me how this can’t be checked,” said the captain, trying to restrain himself: “I have to be careful what I say.”
Goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe saw it similarly. “It’s incomprehensible and there will always be a discussion about the VAR. It’s been going against us all season and the question is when it will fall on our side.”
Meanwhile, coach Timo Schultz remained more sober. His team simply didn’t play well enough. Although “no one could have complained if he had blown the whistle.” Basically, however, the coach prefers to make sure “we play better football.” When it comes to that, Timo Schultz still has a lot of work to do.
The other voices about the game
Florian Kainz: “I wouldn’t say that nothing worked. We had our chances today too. It was a game you don’t have to lose. Werder did very well defensively. It was difficult for us to move forward and we didn’t have the solutions in the first half. Overall, a very disappointing defeat. We can’t influence what our opponents do anyway, we wanted to get the points for ourselves today. It’s a setback, we’ve always scored points in the last few games. That’s why it’s obviously a setback. We have to digest it now.”
Marvin Schwäbe: “We had big plans in terms of play and wanted to be brave with the ball. Of course Bremen did well. We didn’t get into the flow so that we could implement what we had planned. After conceding the goal, things became bolder, higher and more intense. Unfortunately that was too late. We had to take into account that there would be a setback. The game today wasn’t good, but we know what we can do. We have to analyze this and come up with a match plan again.”
Timo Schultz: “We had planned much, much more today, so we are very disappointed. There was a lack of conviction and courage to create more with the ball. We addressed this at half-time, after that the structure was better, but we still couldn’t generate any pressure. We weren’t lucky enough for the ball to roll over the line either. Defensively it was decent, but we need to step it up offensively. That won’t be enough!”
Ole Werner: “It was a close game with evenly balanced play and chances. We wanted to lay the foundation in defense. It was difficult to show the final precision on the soapy surface. When it came to the goal, we played everything perfectly, as we intended. That’s why I’m very happy with our performance. There was a lot of passion.”