1. FC Köln head into the international break with three points thanks to a 2:0 victory against SSV Ulm on Saturday afternoon. Timo Hübers and Luca Waldschmidt got the goals in the RheinEnergieSTADION as FC returned to winning ways.
Team news
Gerhard Struber made one change to the side that started against Karlsruher SC. Max Finkgräfe started at right-back ahead of Jan Thielmann.
Thomas Wörle opted for two alterations following the win against Eintracht Braunschweig. Christian Ortag and Bastian Allgeier both dropped out, with Niclas Thiede and Lennart Stoll taking their places.
Ahead at the break
FC were in control from the get-go and had a great chance to open the scoring in the fourth minute. Leart Pacarada’s stinging shot from 20 yards was parried by Niclas Thiede, with Tim Lemperle forcing the follow-up wide from four yards out.
Not long after, however, FC had the lead. Linton Maina’s corner was flicked on by Denis Huseinbasic and Timo Hübers produced an acrobatic volley at the near post to divert the ball past Thiede and into the back of the net.
Max Brandt was then sent off for a foul on Tim Lemperle. The Ulm midfielder lost the ball on the edge of the box, and then brought down Lemperle as the last man. There was little in the way of chances after that, as FC went into the break with a one-goal lead.
Waldschmidt makes it safe
After the restart, Dominique Heintz replaced Max Finkgräfe after picking up a caution on his return to action. Just two minutes after the break, Luca Waldschmidt added to the FC lead. Lemperle won the ball back on the touchline and fed Waldschmidt, who produced a superb shot from 20 yards that found the top corner of Thiede’s goal.
Waldschmidt almost added a second moments later, yet his effort from 10 yards flew over the goal. Waldschmidt was at the heart of the FC attacks, though Linton Maina almost produced magic of his own. A well-worked corner routine saw Maina’s outside of the foot effort curl just wide.
FC were dominant in the second-half and barely allowed Ulm a chance to break through. The international break is now pride of place in the calendar, with FC next in action on Friday, 18th October at 18:30 CEST against SV Darmstadt 98.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (4-2-2-2): Urbig – Finkgräfe (Heintz 46’), Hübers, Pauli, Pacarada – Martel, Huseinbasic (Olesen 90+1’) – Lemperle (Kainz 65’), Maina – Waldschmidt (Adamyan 84’), Downs (Dietz 65’).
SSV Ulm (3-4-3): Thiede – Strompf, Kolbe, Reichert (Meier 58’) – Stoll (Geyer 87’), Brandt, Hyryläinen (Maier 68’), Rösch (Ulrich 87’) – Chessa, Higl, Krattenmacher (Nelson 68’).
Goals: 1:0, Hübers 8’. 2:0, Waldschmidt 47’.
Referee: Patrick Alt (Illingen).
Booked: Hübers (23’), Finkgräfe (34’), Wörle (36’), Pacarada (71’), Waldschmidt (73’).
Sent-off: Brandt (21’).
Attendance: 49,900.
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