1. FC Köln fell to a 2:0 defeat against FC Augsburg on Friday evening at the WWK Arena. After a goalless first-half, Rodrigo Ribeiro gave the hosts the lead. Despite a late push, Alexis Claude-Maurice scored whilst Marvin Schwäbe was in the box for a corner to seal the win for the hosts.
Team news
Manuel Baum opted for one alteration to the team that started the game against Wolfsburg last weekend. Dimitrios Giannoulis was replaced by Fabian Rieder.
Lukas Kwasniok made three changes after the draw against Hoffenheim last time out. Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Marius Bülter and Luca Waldschmidt came in for Joël Schmied, Sebastian Sebulonsen and Said El Mala.
Uneventful first-half
The game began slowly, with both teams treading carefully in the early knockings. That theme would continue throughout the first period. There were little in the way of clear-cut chances for either side. Noahkai Banks brought a solid save from Marvin Schwäbe at the near post, before Rodrigo Ribeiro fizzed a shot wide from 20 yards.
FC’s best openings came from set-pieces and the right-hand side. Jakub Kamiński had a shot blocked after a clever move, with the Polish international creating the most promising chance also. A corner from Kamiński was headed goalward by Eric Martel, with his header clipping the top of the crossbar. Otherwise, it was a first-half of few opportunities.
Augsburg use their chances
Lukas Kwasniok brought off Eric Martel for Ísak Jóhannesson at half-time with the midfielder on a yellow card. There was little in the way of chances in the first 10 minutes but that soon changed. Noahkai Banks was afforded time and space to drive into the FC box before cutting back to Rodrigo Ribeiro to flick past Marvin Schwäbe at the near post.
The rest of the match continued as before, although FC almost grabbed a late equaliser. A header across goal was chested down and volleyed by Keven Schlotterbeck, only for the ball to go backward instead of forward. Finn Dahmen just managed to scramble off the line.
Instead, from the resulting corner, it was Augsburg who killed the game off. Marvin Schwäbe was up for a set-piece, with the hosts clearing as far as Alexis Claude-Maurice. He was able to run clear and pass into an empty net with the final kick of the game.
FC are next in action on Saturday, 6th March against Borussia Dortmund. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION is at 18:30 CET.
Line-ups
FC Augsburg (3-4-2-1): Dahmen – Banks, Schlotterbeck, Zesiger – Fellhauer (Wolf 82‘), Massengo (Kade 82‘), Jakic (Keitel 50‘), Rieder – Kömür (Rexhbecaj 82‘), Claude-Maurice – Ribeiro (Gregoritsch 68‘).
1. FC Köln (3-4-2-1): Schwäbe – van den Berg, Simpson-Pusey (Chávez 78‘), Cenk – Kamiński, Krauß, Martel (Jóhannesson 46‘), Lund – Waldschmidt (Niang 66‘), Bülter (El Mala 66‘) – Ache.
Goals: 1:0, Ribeiro 55‘. 2:0, Claude-Maurice 90+5‘.
Referee: Tobias Welz (Wiesbaden).
Booked: Massengo (15‘), Martel (31‘), Banks (47‘).
Attendance: 30,660 (sold-out).