1. FC Köln came from behind twice to earn a point against 1. FC Heidenheim. After Marvin Pieringer’s bicycle kick opened the scoring early on, Eric Martel headed home the equaliser just three minutes later. Julian Niehues forced the hosts back into the lead midway through the first-half before Said El Mala restored parity less than three minutes after his half-time substitution. FC had the better of the chances in the second-half but failed to take advantage and secure all three points.
Team news
Frank Schmidt opted for four alterations from the team that began the 4:0 defeat to Bayern before the Winter Break. Benedikt Gimber, Marnon Busch, Kerber and Mathias Honsak dropped out with Tim Siersleben, Julian Niehues, Sirlord Conteh and Arijon Ibrahimovic.
Lukas Kwasniok made four changes to the side that started against Union Berlin before Christmas. Dominique Heintz, Rav van den Berg, Kristoffer Lund and Ísak Jóhannesson were replaced by Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Denis Huseinbašić, Alessio Castro-Montes and Fynn Schenten.
Behind at the break
FC started the better of the two sides and had two great chances to open the scoring early on. Ragnar Ache was denied by the trailing foot of Diant Ramaj before the Heidenheim goalkeeper produced a special stop to deny Jakub Kamiński from close range just moments later.
All the good work from FC was undone in the 15th minute, however. Jan Schöppner dug out a cross on the right and as it looked like Marvin Pieringer would miss the ball in the middle, he produced a bicycle kick falling away from goal to direct it past the helpless Marvin Schwäbe.
Thankfully, from an FC perspective, the equaliser came just three minutes later. After a corner was cleared only as far as Alessio Castro-Montes, he produced a fantastic cross to the back post where Eric Martel directed the ball into the far corner was the back of his head to restore parity.
The wild start to the game continued in the 25th minute. A free-kick from deep took a wicked deflection off Tom Krauß, which produced a superb reaction save from Schwäbe. The ball dropped kindly for Julian Niehues and he forced home from 10 yards despite the best efforts of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey on the line.
The end of the first period saw chances exchanged at either end. Whilst Ramaj was able to scramble away Simpson-Pusey’s header and Patrick Mainka hacked the rebound away, Marvin Schwäbe made an excellent stop to deny Arijon Ibrahimovic at the near post. The Heidenheim forward had gifted a golden opportunity to Sirlord Conteh soon after, though the forward failed to get the right contact on the ball to force home.
El Mala levels, chances not taken
The second-half brought the introduction of Said El Mala and the immediate equaliser. Castro-Montes pushed the ball to El Mala, who made a trademark run before cutting inside from the left and firing into the top corner from 20 yards with the help of a deflection.
From there on, FC were in control of the game. Kamiński was inches away from a third with two similar attempts to that of El Mala. Ache had the two best openings, only to volley straight at Ramaj from Eric Martel’s cross and his sliding effort in added time was clipped clear by Ramaj’s legs once more.
FC face a quick turnaround as the Bundesliga starts back with a bang. The midweek set of fixtures rounds off the first half of the season, with Lukas Kwasniok’s side playing host to FC Bayern München on Wednesday evening. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION is at 20:30 CET.
Line-ups
1. FC Heidenheim (4-3-3): Ramaj – Traore (Busch 78‘), Siersleben, Mainka, Föhrenbach – Schöppner (Beck 60‘), Dorsch, Niehues – Conteh (Kaufmann 83‘), Pieringer (Schimmer 78‘), Ibrahimovic (Honsak 60‘).
1. FC Köln (3-4-2-1): Schwäbe – Sebulonsen, Martel, Simpson-Pusey – Thielmann (Bülter 74‘), Krauß, Huseinbašić (El Mala 46‘), Castro-Montes (Lund 74‘) – Schenten (Maina 62‘), Kamiński – Ache (Niang 90+2‘).
Goals: 1:0, Pieringer 15‘. 1:1, Martel 18‘. 2:1, Niehues 25‘. 2:2, El Mala 48‘.
Referee: Robert Schröder (Hannover).
Booked: Martel (21‘), Ibrahimovic (44‘), Föhrenbach (52‘).
Attendance: 15,000 (sold-out).