Damper on the old love: Coach Steffen Baumgart threatens to lose touch with 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga in the European Cup. When Baumgart returned to his former place of work, the Cologne team lost 0-1 (0-0) at Union Berlin after a mistake by ex-national player Jonas Hector.
“It was a hard-fought game with few chances to score. We weren’t goal-oriented enough in the last third,” Hector said on “DAZN” and commented on his bad pass: “I want to play back to the goalkeeper and play him too far forward. That’s how Marvin Schwäbe can don’t even get to the ball.”
FC fell back to eighth place with 40 points behind Union and could be passed further on the 28th matchday. Taiwo Awoniyi (49th) gave Union the first three after the last three games without a win.
The Berlin Cup semi-finalists, in which FC coach Baumgart played a total of 68 games from 2002 to 2004, increased his chances of another European Cup adventure with the success.
Union had announced the first positive news a few hours before kick-off. Defense chief Robin Knoche extended his contract with the Irons, which expired at the end of the season. FC started with personnel worries, including the absence of goalscorer Anthony Modeste, who was ill. Ex-Union professional Sebastian Andersson was the only tip.
The pyro-fog in the An der Alten Försterei stadium, which was sold out for the first time since November with 22,012 spectators, had barely cleared when Union almost cheered for the first time. Awoniyi had started and only had FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe in front of him, but the attacker put the ball too far ahead (1st).
Awoniyi punishes Hector’s blackout
Long passes to the Nigerian remained a proven method for the Berliners – initially with limited success. Union lacked accuracy in the passing game, and the team of coach Urs Fischer could hardly find any playful solutions against the stable Cologne defense.
Opportunities like those of Sheraldo Becker (25th), who tried it from a tight angle after a good pass from Awoniyi, were a rarity. Otherwise, it only became dangerous from a distance: Rani Khedira narrowly missed from around 25 meters (35 ‘).
The changeover game was lacking for the Cologne team. FC conquered a lot of balls in midfield, but then got stuck in the centre. Cologne couldn’t get through on the outside either. Hector failed in Cologne’s best chance in the first half to Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow (39th).
Shortly after the break, the Cologne captain was the center of attention again: A failed back pass landed in the penalty area at Awoniyi. The leadership gave Union security. The Köpenicker appeared more and more often in front of the opposing goal and had opportunities for more goals.