Bundesliga on Sunday
Thanks to Joker: Cologne catches up from a two-goal deficit in Frankfurt
Updated April 5, 2026 – 7:39 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The draw between Frankfurt and Cologne doesn’t really help anyone. Spectacles happen within three minutes.
An up-and-down debut for René Wanger at 1. FC Köln: In the 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, his team missed three minutes in the second half, but then showed great morale.
Jonathan Burkardt (66th minute) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (69th) initially gave the SGE the lead, but Cologne immediately scored through Jakub Kamiński (70th). In the 83rd minute, Alessio Castro-Montes scored the final score 34 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
Frankfurt remains in seventh place in the table, but is ten points behind Bayer Leverkusen and only two points ahead of pursuers Freiburg. Depending on the pairing in the DFB Cup final, the rank could be enough to qualify for the Conference League. For Cologne it is the eighth game in a row without a win. The Rhinelanders remain in 15th place, just two points ahead of FC St. Pauli, who are in the relegation zone.
Kwasniok’s successor Wagner felt above all “anticipation” before his premiere on Easter Sunday, as he said on DAZN: “The boys are hot. They don’t need much more from me, maybe a little push.” As announced, he relied on young star Saïd El Mala from the start; FC would be doing itself a “no favor” by not fielding the U21 national player at the moment, Wagner said.
The Cologne team narrowly missed the dream start. During a kick-off variation, the Frankfurt defenders went on the offensive for a long ball – and Cologne countered. Keeper Michael Zetterer let Kamiński’s shot bounce forward, but then threw himself strongly into Ragnar Ache’s follow-up shot (1st) and prevented the score from falling behind.
Shaken up by the opportunity, Eintracht, where 2014 world champion Mario Götze initially sat on the bench after his contract extension during the week, took control. Ansgar Knauff prevailed in a duel after a strong pass from Hugo Larsson, but shot just wide (24′). The eye-catching Kalimuendo, who was free after a long ball from Oscar Højlund, also didn’t aim accurately enough.
