1. FC Köln made a superb comeback to beat Serie A side Udinese 3:2 on Saturday afternoon. The final pre-season fixture saw Udinese go 2:0 up, only for goals from Damion Downs, Denis Huseinbasic and Dejan Ljubcic to turn the game around.
Level at the break
Udinese took the first real opening of the match. Former FC player, Kingsley Ehizibue made his way down the right before crossing into the middle for Isaac Success. The forward was able to pick his spot and give the Italian side the lead after eight minutes.
FC went close twice in quick succession, as Damion Downs and Tim Lemperle’s headers almost restored parity. However, Udinese’s clarity in front of goal proved key. A mistake in the build-up allowed Lorenzo Lucca to fire past Jonas Urbig.
That wasn’t enough to put off Gerhard Struber’s side. Damion Downs’ headed home Jan Thielmann’s cross on the stroke of half-time and, despite it looking like that was the last action of the first period, Denis Huseinbasic’s cross found a way in at the near post to level the scores.
FC complete comeback
FC started the second-half strongly, as Luca Waldschmidt came off the bench and almost had an immediate impact. His effort from Lemperle’s cutback slid just off target, however.
There was no messing about from Dejan Ljubicic, though. Waldschmidt found the midfielder 12 yards out on the angle, and he produced a smashing drive to rattle the roof of the net and complete the comeback after 68 minutes.
FC will travel back to Köln on Sunday ahead of the preparations for the first competitive game of the season. Kick-off against Hamburger SV is at 20:30 CEST on Friday, 2nd August at the RheinEnergieSTADION.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (4-3-1-2): Urbig – Thielmann, Hübers, Heintz (Pauli 80’), Pacarada (Wäschenbach 80’) – Huseinbasic (Potocnik 88’), Martel (Christensen 80’, Olesen 84’), Ljubicic (Obuz 84’) – Adamyan (Waldschmidt 46’) – Lemperle (Tigges 70’), Downs (Maina 59’).
Goals: 1:0, Success 8’. 2:0, Lucca 25’. 2:1, Downs 45’. 2:2, Huseinbasic 45+1’. 2:3, Ljubicic 68’.
Booked: Thielmann (35’), Ebosse (71’).
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