Zero number between FC & VfB
No Sasa Kalajdzic, no goals: Most of the discussions in the already hectic 0-0 draw between 1. FC Köln and VfB Stuttgart were about someone who wasn’t there at all. Because Stuttgart’s top scorer was not in the squad. The Austrian, who is probably about to move to the English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, was absent at his own request. Instead, for the first time in the starting XI: newcomer Luca Pfeiffer, who became a central figure in the zero number on Sunday afternoon.
Three days after reaching the group stage of the Conference League, FC are still unbeaten in the league but have held on to a draw for the third straight season. VfB also drew for the third time on matchday 4, but lost the other game and are therefore still without a win. On Sunday, the Swabians were closer to success, but failed again and again due to the outstanding Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe. And on the red card against Pfeiffer (56th). Because he was so upset about it, among other things, VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo also saw yellow and red (72nd).
“We have come to the conclusion that there is no point in taking him. Because he doesn’t feel free enough in his head to perform on the pitch today,” Matarazzo said on Dazn about Kalajdzic’s absence. The ex-Darmstadt player Pfeiffer got his first start, but his debut ended prematurely after Timo Hübers kicked his ankle. In the fourth game, the Cologne team benefited for the third time from an opponent’s dismissal, but despite being outnumbered by more than half an hour, they didn’t manage to win their second win of the season.
Zero number against Stuttgart: Cologne complained about several injuries
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart made five changes to his starting XI from a 3-0 midweek win in the play-off second leg at Fehérvár FC. Nevertheless, the guests seemed much fresher at the beginning and had three decent chances in the first five minutes through Wataru Endo after 22 seconds, Silas (4th) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (5th). The Cologne team also had to put up with two injuries early on. Mathias Olesen had to leave the field after 17 minutes, Julian Chabot played on until the 52nd despite suffering an injury after just four minutes with a head bandage that was taped over and over again. Another injury on his left foot finally stopped him.
Cologne’s savior before the break was Schwäbe, who made two excellent saves against Silas (22nd/38th). FC also had two huge chances to take the lead, but captain Jonas Hector, after a free-kick was laid by Ondrej Duda, went completely unmarked from ten meters in the middle of the goal (37′) and Mavropanos knocked Chabot’s turban header off the line (45′). +2). The second half began with the next chances for Silas – and the next saves by Schwäbe (48./49). Then Pfeiffer rightly saw red, but that didn’t change that much in the broken game, because VfB held up well when outnumbered and the tired Cologne team didn’t do enough when outnumbered.
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