1. FC Köln can still win. The 2-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt was the first win under Timo Schultz. This is how the trainer experienced the redeeming evening.
Even an hour after the final whistle, Timo Schultz was still “full of adrenaline”. With goals from Faride Alidou (67th) and Jan Thielmann (80th), 1. FC Köln achieved their first win under his direction on Saturday evening. Schultz then decided: “Once I’ve calmed down a bit, I’ll definitely enjoy the evening.”
The 46-year-old viewed the fact that he was able to score the first Bundesliga three-pointer of his coaching career as completely irrelevant. “I’m happy about the victory – for the fans, for the club and above all for the team, who played well again.” It was only FC’s third win of the season, cementing their place in the relegation zone and increasing their lead over Mainz and Darmstadt to four points each. “But I won’t fall into euphoria,” Schultz concluded: “As always, I will analyze what we did good and bad.” After a redemptive victory, this should be easier than before.
This is what the coaches said about the game
Timo Schultz: “The statistics read similarly to those against Dortmund – just not at the top, when it comes to the result. That’s the crucial thing for us today. The key moment was certainly a) the yellow-red card and b) the resulting goal from Faride Alidou. For us The victory was deserved. We are very happy that we kept a clean sheet, that has to be the basis for the rest of the second half of the season. We also scored two nice goals. But from Tuesday we will check that and then the focus will be on Hoffenheim – that’s the next goal.”
Dino Toppmöller: “Congratulations to Timo and 1. FC Köln for the overall well-deserved victory. We didn’t bring the aggression and power onto the pitch in the first half that we had intended. That was also very poor in terms of football, we had too many Loss of the ball and simple mistakes – that’s not how you build dominance. We came out of halftime well and had the opponent around the box at times. Then we punished ourselves with an action that was stupid. The expulsion was justified. Then shoot Cologne made it 1-0 straight away and it’s not easy to come back. We scored the 2-0 ourselves, which is why we’re not a top team yet. Cologne did well, were very aggressive and deserved to win.”
That’s what the FC players said
Jan Thielmann: “The victory feels good, a bit liberating. We played a good game, the yellow-red cards also came our way. In the end we deserved to win 2-0. We knew it would be an intense game and We have to be at our best. We were like that from the first minute, and luckily we were able to decide the game from the back. In the first half, the goalkeeper saved my shot well, but in the 80th minute I just lost my head . I just held on, the ball can’t do more than miss. Today we were able to force the luck of the game on our side, something we haven’t had this season before. Our defense also did an outstanding job today. If it’s right, it falls It’s easier to score goals at the front.”
Florian Kainz: “We played a very passionate game today, fully committed – we tried to squeeze everything in. Frankfurt made it really difficult for us to gain access, but over the course of the game we still had more chances than last time. Thank God we have each other Rewarded today, with two goals behind. We didn’t allow much, we felt Frankfurt were a bit superior in terms of play, but had the chances after throw-ins or corners. As far as the set-piece situations are concerned, we have to be even more consistent in defense. But we are of course very happy that we were able to get the three points. That is important for all of us – whether for the coach, the coaching team, us players, the fans, for the mood. The victory is good for all of us. Now we will continue to work well, the table is tight – we have to work hard.”