1. FC Köln and 1. FSV Mainz 05 played out a dramatic 1:1 draw at the MEWE Arena on Sunday evening. Florian Kainz levelled in the 95th minute after Leandro Barreiro’s opener in the first-half.
Team news
Bo Henriksen was forced into a single change after the draw in Freiburg last time out. Karim Onisiwo replaced Jae-sung Lee after the South Korean international picked up his fifth yellow card.
Timo Schultz opted for three alterations to the side that started against Darmstadt last weekend. Benno Schmitz, Denis Huseinbasic and Steffen Tigges replaced Jacob Christensen, Florian Kainz and Sargis Adamyan.
Behind at the break
The game began in promising fashion for FC. Faride Alidou had a great chance to pick out Steffen Tigges in the middle after just three minutes, though his cross ended up behind the FC striker. Denis Huseinbasic had two efforts from range, though neither were of any real trouble to Robin Zentner.
As the first-half wore on, Mainz became more dangerous. The hosts forced Marvin Schwäbe into clever save from Brajan Gruda’s poked effort before taking the lead in the 28th minute. Leandro Barreiro was able to pounce from close range after Schwäbe saved Onisiwo’s initial effort. Jonathan Burkardt could have doubled their advantage soon after, only to blaze over.
Drama at the death
The second-half started as FC would have hoped. Faride Alidou was brought down by Anthony Caci, who escaped a second yellow card. Luca Waldschmidt then sent the ball wide of the mark from 12 yards, with Robin Zentner already in the other corner. Benno Schmitz almost grabbed the sought-after leveller when his effort was parried by Zentner.
The game ebbed towards the end with FC pushing and pushing for an equaliser. Mark Uth’s effort for spectacularly saved by Zentner. Sargis Adamyan was then fouled in the 90th minute after Zentner caught the forward in the head. A VAR check followed but Florian Kainz kept his cool to convert after a five-minute wait.
Philipp Mwene was given his marching orders after a rough tackle on Uth on the sideline. Zentner then turned hero at the very end of the game, producing a strong save to keep out Uth’s near-post header.
FC are next in action on Saturday 4th May against SC Freiburg. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION is at 18:30 CEST.
Line-ups
1. FSV Mainz 05 (3-4-2-1): Zentner – Kohr, van den Berg, Hanche-Olsen – Caci (Fernandes 64‘), Barreiro, Amiri, Mwene – Gruda (Ajorque 87‘), Onisiwo (Widmer 56‘) – Burkardt.
1. FC Köln (4-2-3-1): Schwäbe – Schmitz, Hübers, Chabot, Finkgräfe – Martel, Huseinbasic (Kainz 72‘) – Thielmann (Maina 62‘), Waldschmidt (Uth 62‘), Alidou (Adamyan 83‘) – Tigges (Downs 62‘).
Goals: 1:0, Barreiro 28‘. 1:1, Kainz PEN 90+5‘.
Referee: Benjamin Brand (Unterspiesheim).
Booked: Alidou (27’), Caci (27’), Chabot (66’), Uth (66’), Hanche-Olsen (70’), Schmitz (76’), Amiri (83’).
Sent-off: Mwene (90+9’).
Attendance: 33,000 (sold-out).
