1. FC Köln wins the catch-up game at 1. FC Slovacko and saves the chance to move into the knockout phase of the Conference League.
The team of coach Steffen Baumgart won the continuation of the game at 1. FC Slovacko 1-0 (0-0) on Friday (October 28th, 2022) and with a strong fighting performance, especially in the second half of the game, they have a good starting position for the Preliminary round final next Thursday (November 3rd, 2022) secured against OGC Nice. Ondrej Duda scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute with a penalty kick.
Cologne awarded penalties
Both teams missed numerous chances. Slovakia’s Merchas Doski headed the ball to the Cologne post in the 42nd minute.
In the 50th minute, FC missed the opportunity to take the lead. Captain Florian Kainz missed a penalty after Sargis Adamyan was brought down in the penalty area. The Austrian top scorer from Cologne aimed powerfully, but half high, into the right corner, which Slovacko’s goalkeeper Filip Nguyen anticipated early on and parried the penalty.
Unusual start at an unusual time
The conference game between 1. FC Slovacko and 1. FC Köln was already kicked off in the 7th minute of the game at 1:00 p.m. after the planned kick-off the previous evening (October 27, 2022) was delayed by half an hour due to fog was postponed and called off after just a few minutes by referee Giorgi Kruaschwilli from Georgia. The fog was too dense and the view was too limited.
“I’ve never experienced that before,” said FC coach Steffen Baumgart when the game was abandoned. Baumgart had no problem with the postponement to the following day and the associated unusually early appointment. “Fortunately I was in the second division for a long time – I know how 1 p.m. works”.
Preliminary round on Thursday
Next Thursday, coach Steffen Baumgart’s team will play against OGC Nice for progress. Slovacko, on the other hand, failed early. After five matchdays, Cologne are in third place with seven points behind Nice and Partizan Belgrade (both 8). The first in the group goes straight to the round of 16. The second plays in an upstream knockout round against one of the eight Europa League relegated teams.
Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim on Sunday
The Bundesliga game on Sunday (7.30 p.m.) against TSG Hoffenheim will take place as planned, said managing director Christian Keller after the game. According to Keller, the Cologne team’s request for the game to be postponed could not be met because no suitable date could be found for all parties involved.
