Bitter derby defeat

On the 24th match day of the season, 1. FC Köln were beaten 2-4 (0-2) by local rivals VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. The goals, in front of a crowd of 50,000 at the RheinEnergie Stadium, were scored for the visitors by Michael Bradley (25’ / 87’ pen), Karim Matmour (44’) and Rob Friend (67’), whilst Miso Brecko struck twice for FC (64’ / 82’).

Sad farewell

FC coach Christoph Daum made just one change to his starting eleven, compared to the team that began in last weekend’s 0-1 defeat to Schalke, with Wilfried Sanou replacing Daniel Brosinski. Before the game there was some sad news for all FC fans as club captain Ümit Özat joined manager Michael Meier to announce that the Turkish midfielder would have to put an end to his active career due to health issues.

The game began at a high tempo, with both sides being spurned on by the wonderful derby atmosphere around the stadium. Early on there were openings created at both ends with both Nemanja Vucicevic and Milivoje Novakovic going close for FC, whilst Marko Marin put a free-kick narrowly wide at the other end. With 25 minutes played, Marin broke past two Köln players on the left and fed a pass into the box, where Michael Bradley was perfectly placed to slot the ball over the line – 0-1. It was a shock which the home side had trouble coping with and on the stroke of half time, the visitors doubled their lead. Karim Matmour took on a pass from Alexander Baumjohann and finished the move to send his side into the break with a two goal cushion.

FC put the pressure on

Right from the start of the second period, FC threw down the gauntlet and showed they were not going down without a fight. Novakovic firstly came close with a free-kick (52’) and then three minutes later the Slovenian thought he had put his side back in the game, as he forced the ball over the line from close range, but the linesman’s flag put an abrupt end to the celebrations. Those celebrations were only to be muted for a matter of minutes though. Taking on a pass from Mannaseh Ishiaku, Brecko drove a powerful shot inside the left post to make it 1-2 and give Köln reason to believe.

Unfortunately that belief was rather short lived, with VfL restoring the two goal deficit just three minutes later as Rob Friend got on the end of a good delivery from Paul Stalteri – 1-3. Daum’s men again pushed forward, despite the renewed set-back, and it was Brecko who reduced the deficit once again with an almost carbon copy of his first goal (82’). For all of their late efforts, there was to be no joy for FC and shortly before the final whistle, a foul on Gal Alberman led to a penalty for Borussia, which Bradley converted to make the final score 2-4 and complete Mönchengladbach’s revenge for the 1-2 home defeat by Köln earlier in the season.


The team line-ups:

1. FC Köln: Mondragon - Brecko, Geromel, Mohamad, Matip - Petit, Pezzoni - Sanou (46’ Radu), Vucicevic (46’ Ishiaku), Ehret (76’ Broich) - Novakovic

Bor. M'gladbach: Bailly - Stalteri, Brouwers, Daems, Levels - Galasek, Bradley - Matmour (68’ Alberman), Baumjohann (90’ Kleine), Marin (63‘ Neuville) - Friend

Goals: 0-1 Bradley (25’), 0-2 Matmour (44’), 1-2 Brecko (64’), 1-3 Friend (67’), 2-3 Brecko (82’), 2-4 Bradley (87’ pen)
 
Attendance: 50,000 (sold out)
 
Referee: Kinhöfer

Yellow cards: Petit, Pezzoni / Levels, Galasek