At the end of a crazy spectacle, both coaches took a deep breath: While the fans were loudly celebrating no winner but the game, Steffen Baumgart and Jesse Marsch fell into each other’s arms and didn’t really know what to expect from the wild game and the result should hold. Vice-champions RB Leipzig avoided at least the next defeat with the 1-1 (0-0) at 1. FC Köln. After five matchdays, RB is still an incredible nine points behind champions FC Bayern with ex-coach Julian Nagelsmann, whom Leipzig actually wanted to chase.
Amadou Haidara (71st minute) saved Saxony one point after falling behind. “We saw the uncertainty especially in the first half,” admitted Emil Forsberg after the clear defeats against Bayern and Manchester City. “But the last 30 minutes was a step in the right direction.”
The FC, only saved in the relegation last year, with eight points, on the other hand, first settled in the upper half of the table and finally sparked a euphoria in the cathedral city under Baumgart. The Cologne leadership had once again scored Anthony Modeste with his fourth goal of the season (54th). “The boys had a huge fight and deserved this point,” said the strong keeper Timo Horn. All in all, the 25,000 spectators, including national coach Hansi Flick, saw an offensive, inspiring game with two post shots and four disallowed meetings. “It hurts when it’s tight,” said Forsberg. “But that’s football.”
The Leipzig team in particular got off to a strong start, especially Christopher Nkunku, who was the big ray of hope at the frustrating 3-6 midweek at Manchester City with three goals. After the Frenchman ran 80 meters, André Silva passed the ball to Dominik Szoboszlai from Hungary, who scored but was offside with one foot (5th). Three minutes later, Nkunku hit the post after another strong solo from 20 yards.
The Cologne, under Baumgart actually tried to quickly buy the edge of the opponent himself, were only briefly impressed and soon started their own offensive actions. After ten minutes, only the post prevented their lead after a volley shot by Ondrej Duda, which was well worth seeing.
But most of the time, RB pressed. Not least because of Szoboszlai, who only failed with a free kick to Timo Horn (18th). Then Rafael Czichos deflected his shot from 20 meters for a corner (25th). Czichos had to be yellow-red-endangered but left after half an hour. And then the FC also scored their first offside goal, Modeste had been in the forbidden zone before his pass to Mark Uth (37th).
The 0-0 break was actually a joke given the offensive power of both teams. And immediately after the change it went even faster. Leipzig’s Lukas Klostermann just missed (48th), Duda failed to RB keeper Peter Gulacsi (49th), Modeste headed just wide after the corner. Then the French scored twice, but initially the hit was not due to an offside position (50th), then because of an alleged foul (54th). But after more than two minutes of video study, referee Felix Brych realized: No foul, instead finally the first goal.
RB increased the pressure and cheered quickly when Forsberg scored six minutes after coming on. But the Swede was on the sidelines. Another four minutes later there was no objection when Haidara headed a Szoboszlai corner uncovered. In the final phase, keeper Horn saved the draw for Cologne with several saves.
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