1. FC Köln secured a hard-fought 1:0 win against Hertha BSC on Saturday evening. Tim Lemperle’s goal was enough to secure all three points in the capital.
Team news
Cristian Fiel and Gerhard Struber opted for the same teams that started their respective DFB-Pokal wins against 1. FC Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel during the week.
Ahead at the break
The early knockings in the first-half provided little to shout about. It took until the 18th minute before Tim Lemperle turned on the edge of the box and curled an effort a whisker wide of the far upright.
The controlled start that FC had enjoyed paid dividends in the 31st minute. A wonderful ball from Dominique Heintz picked out the equally impressively timed run from Tim Lemperle. He kept his cool to slot home for his third goal in as many games.
FC kept the pressure up and almost furthered their advantage as Jan Thielmann and Denis Huseinbasic both went close. Though neither tested Tjark Ernst in the Hertha goal. Gerhard Struber’s side were able to breathe a sigh of relief in the latter stages of the first-half, thanks to some alert and excellent defending from Eric Martel at the back post.
Mature performance in the second-half
Hertha started the second period strongly, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson coming off the bench and immediately looking dangerous. He and Florian Niederlechner both fired into the side-netting from a similar position as Fiel’s team looked to find a way back into the game.
After the wave of Hertha pressure, FC battled back and had several chances to add a second goal. Dejan Ljubicic got on the end of a wonderful through ball from Lemperle, only to mishit his half-volley after outmuscling Michal Karbownik. Leart Pacarada met his match in Deyovaisio Zeefuik, who managed to block his goalbound effort.
Late on, Damion Downs had the opportunity to kill the game once and for all but fired over after Luca Waldschmidt’s pass. Nevertheless, FC managed to play down the time well and a mature performance secured a second win of the week.
FC are next in action on Saturday, 9th November against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION is at 13:00 CET.
Line-ups
Hertha BSC (4-3-3): Ernst – Kenny, Leistner (Klemens 52‘), M. Dardai, Zeefuik – Sessa (Thorsteinsson 46‘), Karbownik (Lum 67‘), Maza (Schuler 89‘) – Cuisance, Niederlechner (Prevljak 67‘), Scherhant.
1. FC Köln (3-4-1-2): Schwäbe – Pauli, Hübers, Heintz (Olesen 80‘) – Thielmann, Martel, Huseinbasic, Pacarada – Ljubicic (Waldschmidt 73‘) – Lemperle (Downs 68‘), Maina (Kainz 80‘).
Goals: 0:1, Lemperle 31’.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover).
Booked: Leistner (41’), M. Dardai (56’), Karbownik (62’), Pauli (72‘), Schwäbe (76‘), Thorsteinsson (90+4‘).
Attendance: 68,763.
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