Wirtz injury overshadows Cologne derby victory
Leverkusen lost a hectic Rhine derby against Cologne. The Bayer team also had to replace three players after injuries. Among them was Florian Wirtz. His departure was gleefully accompanied by the Cologne fans.
Dhe 1. FC Köln won a hectic and injury-ridden neighborhood duel against Bayer Leverkusen. Coach Steffen Baumgart’s team happily defeated their Rhenish rivals 1-0 (0-0) on Sunday. Kingsley Schindler scored the goal for the guests in the 67th minute in front of 22,658 spectators in Leverkusen and increased the hopes of the FC fans for thrilling European Cup evenings.
“We wanted to come through aggressiveness and intensity. And we did that today and we were rewarded,” said Cologne’s Salih Özcan and looked at the table: “We want to annoy those up there.”
Due to the success, the Cologne team passed 1. FC Union Berlin in the Bundesliga table and are now seventh. Bayer 04 lost a home game for the first time since October last year. In addition, national player Florian Wirtz may have been injured more severely. He stayed on the pitch for a long time after a duel and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
The joker trumps: Kingsley Schindler scored the goal of the day
Quelle: Getty Images/Alexander Scheuber
Leverkusen better, but without penetrating power
Three days after the 2-3 defeat in the Europa League at Atalanta Bergamo, Leverkusen didn’t look tired at all. The third-placed team was the better team for a long time, but missed the opening goal.
Both teams led the prestigious duel robustly and quickly from the start. There was hardly any ball attachment in midfield, instead it went forward as quickly as possible. Bayer created two great chances early on. Paulinho initially acted too awkwardly (10′), then the Brazilian failed after a fine pass from Wirtz free-standing on the strong parrying Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe (18′).
For Wirtz, the afternoon on the pitch ended involuntarily early: he was probably seriously injured in a duel with Luca Kilian. Wirtz hit the lawn several times in pain and waved the supervisors over to him. He appeared to have twisted his left knee.
After almost half an hour, the last strong game designer had to be carried off the field. The former Cologne player was loudly insulted from the guest curve before and during the injury break. When the signal came for substitution, parts of the FC attachment gave scornful applause. Amine Adli came in for the 18-year-old. Bayer coach Gerardo Seoane had already had to replace Jeremie Frimpong through injury, and Odilon Kossounou had to leave at half-time.
Despite the weaknesses, Leverkusen was the better team in what was now an increasingly hectic game with many discussions. Although Cologne held up well in the duels, they were harmless up front. A long-range shot by Florian Kainz, which didn’t pose any problems for Bayer keeper Lukas Hradecky, and FC didn’t do much more on the offensive until half-time. Top striker Anthony Modeste had the Leverkusen defenders well under control.
Even after the change of sides, Bayer 04 remained the stronger team. The Werkself put on the pressure, but didn’t create many really clear chances for a long time – and when they did, the strong Swabian was there. FC, on the other hand, was efficient up front: Substitute Schindler used one of the few attacks to score the winning goal.
“Marvin held up great. We saw a huge fight but it was also tight in some situations. We worked hard today,” said FC coach Steffen Baumgart.
Cologne will host Borussia Dortmund next Sunday. Leverkusen now have a three-day break before the important second leg against Bergamo is due on Thursday.
