1. FC Köln secured a 3:1 win against 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday afternoon at the RheinEnergieSTADION. A stellar half-hour to start did the damage, as goals from Damion Downs, Florian Kainz and Denis Huseinbasic saw FC race into a three-nil lead. Former FC player, Jens Castrop registered a consolation for the visitors.
Team news
Gerhard Struber made one change to the side that started against Jahn Regensburg. Tim Lemperle, injured in the win, was replaced by Damion Downs.
Miroslav Klose opted for one alteration after the defeat to Elversberg last weekend. Berkay Yilmaz came in for Danilo Soares.
Three goals up at the break
FC got off to the start they wanted after just six minutes. A wonderful ball from Dominique Heintz picked out the run of Damion Downs. He managed to keep hold of possession in the box before swiveling and shooting into the near bottom corner.
11 minutes later, FC had their second. Downs was involved again, and so was Heintz. It was the same combination once more but, this time, Ondrej Karafiát brought down Downs. Florian Kainz stepped up to the spot and sent Jan Reichert the wrong way from 12 yards to continue FC’s promising start.
Things got better just after the half-hour mark. Downs was directly involved for the third goal in a row. He turned provider for Denis Huseinbasic, who capped off a long-busting run and clinical counter by sliding past the oncoming Reichert for a third.
Nürnberg were showing signs of troubling the FC backline as Mahir Emreli and Bekay Yilmaz tested Marvin Schwäbe. The best chance fell in the third of three minutes of added time. A cross from the left saw Julian Justvan have a free header in the middle. His effort was cleared off the line by the perfectly placed Leart Pacarada, as FC maintained their lead heading into the break.
Castrop goal doesn’t spark comeback
The second-half began with both sides continuing to come forward. Dominique Heintz almost registered FC’s fourth, though his effort from the edge of the area deflected just wide. At the other end, Jan Thielmann cleared cleverly off the line from Finn Jeltsch’s close-range shot.
Moments later, however, Nürnberg got the goal they were looking for. Jens Castrop took aim from 25 yards and his swerving strike found the top corner of Marvin Schwäbe’s goal in the 59th minute.
However, FC didn’t let that phase them and despite Nürnberg pilling on the pressure, the game was never really in doubt. FC head into the final game of the Hinrunde in second place behind SV Elversberg on goal difference. Kick-off at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion against 1. FC Kaiserslautern is at 13:30 CET on Sunday, 22ndDecember.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (3-4-1-2): Schwäbe – Hübers, Martel, Heintz (Bakatukanda 80’) – Thielmann (Obuz 57’), Ljubicic, Huseinbasic, Pacarada – Kainz (Uth 80’) – Downs (Tigges 84’), Maina (Waldschmidt 84’).
1. FC Nürnberg (3-4-1-2): Reichert – Jeltsch, Knoche, Karafiát (Sevcik 72’) – Villadsen, Castrop, Jander (Lubach 76’), Yilmaz (Pick 83’) – Justvan – Emreli (Flick 46‘), Tzimas (Serra 76’).
Goals: 1:0, Downs 6’. 2:0, Kainz PEN 17’. 3:0, Huseinbasic 31’. 3:1, Castrop 59’.
Referee: Dr. Robin Braun (Wuppertal).
Booked: Hübers (33’), Heintz (41’), Yilmaz (50’), Thielmann (55’), Ljubicic (85’).
Attendance: 50,000 (sold-out).
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