STeffen Baumgart hugged his colleague tightly and whispered something in Thomas Reis’ ear. Even though 1. FC Köln found little consolation in the Bundesliga after the bitter end of the DFB Cup and ended a poor week with three games without a win, the Rhineland coach was relatively relaxed after the final whistle. Four days after losing on penalties against the second division club Hamburger SV and a week after the clear home defeat against FC Bayern Munich (0:4), his team had to settle for a happy 2:2 at VfL Bochum. “We’ll take that point with us. Also how the game went,” said Cologne’s goal scorer Timo Hübers on the Sky broadcaster and, looking at the season so far, said: “29 points after 20 games – great.”
Although the Cologne team remained undefeated in their fifth away game in a row, they missed a closer approach to the places that started in the European Cup despite a 2-1 half-time lead thanks to goals from Hübers (36th) and Anthony Modeste (45th). authorize. In front of 750 spectators in the Ruhr Stadium, Bochum’s goalscorers Gerrit Holtmann (25′) and Takuma Asano (70′) ensured the promoted team’s deserved draw. “If you’re 1: 2 behind, you’re happy if you take a point,” said VfL captain Anthony Losilla: “We can live with the point.”
As a consequence of the poor performance against HSV, Cologne coach Baumgart had radically restructured his team and called six new professionals into the starting XI. However, FC didn’t seem really solid after this measure at first. Because Bochum, who started the game with tailwind after the round of 16 success in the cup over Mainz in contrast to the guests, were close to 1-0 early on. But the shot from Milos Pantovic (6th), who has recently gained a reputation as an art shooter after various goals worth seeing, was blocked in dire need by the defense of 1. FC Köln.
Lucky for FC Cologne
VfL remained the more active team in the minutes that followed. After a counterattack by the fast Holtmann (17th), Marvin Schwäbe, who Baumgart named number 1 a few days ago, prevented Bochum from taking the lead with a foot defense.
Only after around 20 largely passive minutes did Cologne also intensify their offensive game, but missed their first good opportunity through Modeste (23rd). That wasn’t a wake-up call for the team, just two minutes later FC were 1-0 down. Holtmann skilfully completed a counterattack via Bochum’s new signing Jürgen Locadia with a shot through the legs of keeper Schwäbe. FC only escaped another Bochum goal with a lot of luck when Schwäbe parried an attempt by Locadia (34th) from close range.
A goal out of the proverbial well-known nothing brought di eKölner back into the game. After a corner by Florian Kainz and brief confusion in VfL’s solid defense, Hübers was on the spot from ten meters and ensured the Cologne team’s happy equaliser. But that’s not all: just before half-time, Modeste turned the game upside down. After a pass from Kainz, the Cologne striker didn’t give Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann a chance with a sensitive lob.
Even after the restart, Bochum kept the pressure on and pushed for the equaliser. But Eduard Löwen (53rd) missed the great opportunity to ensure a fairer score up to that point. After a pass from Pantovic, the free-standing midfielder shot the ball over the goal from around ten meters. The Cologne team primarily limited themselves to their defensive work – and this passivity was punished. Substitute Takuma defeated Cologne goalkeeper Schwäbe with a low shot into the far corner.
