1. FC Köln gave up two leads with major mistakes. Then a youngster saves the draw in the derby at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
It should have been Faride Alidou’s derby. But 1. FC Köln wasted their two goals due to a lack of concentration in defense. Then youngster Damion Downs came along and scored his first Bundesliga goal. The t-Online individual review:
Schwäbe prevented a quick equalizer with an outstanding fingertip save against Neuhaus. However, he couldn’t make the block well enough against Honorat in the 1-1 draw – on a good day, Schwäbe has one like that. Lucky when Neuhaus hit the post. On hand when Ngoumou finished (69′). Then twice without a chance against Hack’s double pack. Not a safe performance.
He held back almost completely offensively for a long time because he had to be on guard at the back against the fast Ngoumou. But he didn’t always succeed, also because he and Alidou had problems with the coordination. Then he let Hack out of his sight and headed it in to make it 2-2. In the end we tried to set new accents at the front. A game with ups and downs.
Initially started calmly and carefully – but then made the disaster pass into the center, where Borussia thanked them and countered to make it 1-1. A little later he picked up a yellow card against Ngoumou. Wobbled again and again, no stable performance from the central defender.
Chabot mostly had to deal with Jordan and had many intense duels with the attacker. Saw yellow for one of these duels. Bad mistake right after the 2:2, which led to the corner making it 2:3. But that was his only misfire. Almost made it 4-3, but his header missed.
Finkgräfe initially had problems on his side – Gladbach came through several times (including with Neuhaus’ big chance). But he was also assertive when he prepared Kainz’s shot (22nd). Seen yellow just seconds later for a foul in midfield. Sometimes a bit impetuous with the ball and therefore makes mistakes. But caught himself after the break and moved to the more offensive position after Pacarada’s substitution, but was unable to pose a threat.
For Martel, the derby was to his liking. Combative, emotional, sometimes dirty. Teamed up with Kainz to make it 1-0 and was very present in the early stages. In Gladbach’s pressure phase after the equalizer, they had problems closing the spaces, but were strong and robust in duels. Went down a lot of paths until the end.
Huseinbasic moved back to the double six for the suspended Ljubicic. Worked well without making any crucial errors. Concentrated against the ball and also offensive with some ideas. The best was his pass on downs to make it 3-3.
Ali double pack! Started with a bang – and drove the ball into the net from an acute angle to make it 1-0 (7th). As the playing time increased, he became worn out in duels, and his game suffered as a result. But then he was there and headed Kainz’s free kick into the net at the far post to make it 2-1.
Maina started on the left but wasn’t as noticeable and involved as Alidou. Good cross from the left, which Adamyan narrowly missed (19′). But overall not enough for his qualities. Went off the field immediately after Pacarada made it 2-1.
The captain returned to the starting line-up in the derby for the suspended Thielmann – and immediately made it 1-0 from the center. After a good 20 minutes but with more mistakes on the ball. Good cross to Adamyan shortly before the break (45th). Tried hard after the break, but had almost no action during the game. But with the perfect free kick to Alidou to make it 2-1.