1. FC Köln fell to a late 1:0 defeat against 1. FC Union Berlin in the final game before the Winter Break at the RheinEnergieSTADION. András Schäfer scored in the first minute of added time after Rav van den Berg was sent off in the 83rd minute.
Team news
Lukas Kwasniok made four changes to the team that started against Leverkusen on Saturday. Dominique Heintz, Kristoffer Lund, Ísak Jóhannesson and Ragnar Ache came in for Luca Waldschmidt, Denis Huseinbašić, Said El Mala and Marius Bülter.
Steffen Baumgart opted for one alteration after the win against Leipzig last weekend. Christopher Trimmel returned to the side and replaced Janik Haberer.
No goals at the break
The game started off with FC on the front foot. Jakub Kamiński was the liveliest player on the pitch, with two early efforts that stung the palms of Frederik Rønnow. Union’s best chance came through Woo-yeong Jeong, with his effort from close range finding the side-netting at the near post.
After the early openings there was little to report in the first-half. Both sides continued to cancel each other out with no space handed to either team.
Schäfer strikes late
The second-half was even more cagey than the first-half. Chances were few and far between with Union playing for set-pieces. That almost paid off in the 68th minute as Leopold Querfeld headed a corner goalward, with Marvin Schwäbe producing a special stop to deny the Austrian.
The game ticked towards the final 10 minutes, and FC were reduced to 10 men as Rav van den Berg was given his marching orders for a handball which prevented Livan Burcu from racing through on goal. Kwasniok’s side looked to have weathered the storm until the 91st minute as András Schäfer slammed home from 20 yards after a half-cleared corner.
FC head into the Winter Break in 11th position after the first 15 games. The team travel to Benidorm on Friday, 2nd January as part of the preparations for the return to action on 10th January in Heidenheim. Kick-off at the Voith-Arena is at 15:30 CET.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (4-4-2): Schwäbe – Sebulonsen, van den Berg, Heintz (Cenk 86’), Lund – Thielmann (El Mala 68’), Krauß (Huseinbašić 68’), Martel, Kamiński (Maina 86’) – Jóhannesson, Ache (Bülter 58’).
1. FC Union Berlin (3-4-2-1): Rönnow – Doekhi, Querfeld, Diogo Leite – Trimmel (Juranović 73’), Khedira, Kemlein (Schäfer 84’), Köhn – Jeong (Burcu 64’), Ansah (Skarke 73’) – Burke (Ilić 73’).
Goal: 0:1, Schäfer 90+1’.
Referee: Christian Dingert (Lebecksmühle).
Booked: Sebulonsen (13’), Trimmel (40’), Krauß (49’), Kemlein (80’), Schäfer (88’), Juranović (90+4’), Rønnow (90+8’).
Sent-off: van den Berg (83’).
Attendance: 50,000 (sold-out).