1. FC Köln and Viktoria Köln played out an entertaining 3:3 draw on Saturday afternoon at Sportpark Höhenberg. Sargis Adamyan, Dominique Heintz and Florian Dietz were on target for FC.
Lead at the break
The game celebrating Viktoria’s 120th anniversary got off to the perfect start for the hosts. A cutback to the edge of the box found Florian Engelhardt, and he picked out the bottom corner from 18 yards to give Viktoria the lead.
FC didn’t take long to respond, however. Steffen Tigges’ cross towards the back post wasn’t dealt with and Mathias Olesen was able to bring the ball back across goal, allowing an easy tap-in for Sargis Adamyan.
Struber’s side managed to grab the lead just before the break and complete the turnaround in the first-half. Jacob Christensen’s corner found Dominique Heintz 10 yards from goal, and his flicked volley found its way into the back of the net.
Action-packed second-half
The restart also brought plenty of action. The first real chance saw Florian Dietz nod home Dominique Heintz’s back post cross to increase FC’s lead. That advantage was halved just three minutes later, as Albion Vrenezi pounced to fire past Marvin Schwäbe.
The game was motoring on in the second period with little to note. That changed in the 74th minute as Serhat Güler converted from close range to draw the hosts level.
FC went down to 10 and then nine men late on, with Florian Kainz forced off through injury and Jan Thielmann sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity. On Sunday, Struber’s side will make the journey to Austria for a training camp in the final stages of pre-season.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (4-3-1-2): Schwäbe – Schmid (Thielmann 59’), Smajic, Heintz, Pauli (Hübers 46’) – Ljubicic (Huseinbasic 29’, Kainz 59’), Olesen (Wäschenbach 46’), Christensen (Martel 59’) – Adamyan (Potocnik 46’) – Dietz (Lemperle 59’), Tigges (Downs 59’).
Goals: 1:0, Engelhardt 4’. 1:1, Adamyan 19’. 1:2, Heintz 42‘. 1:3, Dietz 47‘. 2:3, Vrenezi 50‘. 3:3, Güler 74‘.
Referee: Luca Marx.
Booked: Smajic (64‘).
Sent-off: Thielmann (89‘).
Attendance: 6,214.
Trikots 2024/25
