1. FC Köln went top of the 2. Bundesliga table on Sunday afternoon thanks to a 3:1 win against SC Preußen Münster. Tim Lemperle had given FC the lead before a deflected Joshua Mees cross levelled the scores. Luca Waldschmidt converted from the spot before Damion Downs‘ superb finish sealed the victory.
Team news
Gerhard Struber made four changes to the side that started against Fürth. Timo Hübers, Dominique Heintz, Dejan Ljubičić and Damion Downs replaced Julian Pauli, Joël Schmied, Denis Huseinbašić and Imad Rondić.
Sascha Hildmann also opted for a quartet of alterations following Münster’s 1:1 draw against Karlsruhe. Niko Koulis, Florian Pick, Marc Lorenz and Hólmbert Aron Friðjónsson were replaced by Sebastian Mrowca, Haralambos Makridis, David Kinsombi and Malik Batmaz.
First-half full of action
A full Müngersdorfer Stadion got the intense start to the game that meant so much to both sides. Damion Downs was denied one-on-one by Johannes Schenk in the opening stages before Marvin Schwäbe smartly denied Kinsombi and Makridis in quick sucession.
However, the FC fans didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough. After a clever piece of play down the right hand side, Eric Martel freed up Jan Thielmann to drive towards the Münster box. His low cross was met by oncoming Tim Lemperle. His finish squirmed under the grasp of Schenk for his ninth of the season.
Schenk was busy between the Münster sticks and made an incredible double save to deny Lemperle a second and then quickly recover to deny Florian Kainz’s dipping drive. Luca Waldschmidt headed narrowly over in what was a confident first 25 minutes from Struber’s side.
However, after a period of passive play, Münster got level. Joshua Mees was slipped in behind and a deflection off his otherwise harmless cross creeped over Marvin Schwäbe and into the back oft he net.
FC didn’t want to go into the break level, though. Damion Downs powered into the Münster penalty area and saw his cross deflected by the hand of Simon Scherder. After a long look from the VAR, Tom Bauer pointed to the spot. As he has done so well in recent weeks, Luca Waldschmidt took responsibility from 12 yards and found the bottom corner to give FC the lead at the break.
Downs seals the win
The second-half started with Münster forcing Marvin Schwäbe into an early save through Kinsombi. Thereafter, FC took full control. In the 56th minute, Luca Waldschmidt looped the ball towards Damion Downs. One touch took the ball down, the second set him up to use the third to smash the ball into the bottom corner from 14 yards.
Downs had two great chances to add to the lead but fired over and cracked the crossbar in the space of 120 seconds. Otherwise, there was little in the way of major moments late on the game. Meiko Sponsel came on in the final moments for his FC debut.
FC move top of the 2. Bundesliga table thanks to the win. Crucially, Gerhard Struber’s side are five points clear of 1. FC Magdeburg in third ahead of the final four games of the season. The next game is in a week’s time, as FC travel to Hannover. Kick-off at the Heinz von Heiden Arena is at 13:30 CEST on Sunday, 27th April.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (4-1-3-2): Schwäbe – Thielmann (Sponsel 90+3‘), Hübers, Heintz (Pauli 88‘), Paçarada – Martel – Ljubičić (Olesen 74‘), Waldschmidt (Uth 74‘), Kainz (Huseinbašić 88‘) – Lemperle, Downs.
SC Preußen Münster (3-4-2-1): Schenk – Scherder (Kyerewaa 62‘), Mrowca, Kirkeskov – Schad (Ter Horst 80‘), Bazzoli, Hendrix, Makridis (Lorenz 69‘) – Kinsombi (Pick 62‘), Mees (Friðjónsson 69‘) – Batmaz.
Goals: 1:0, Lemperle 11‘. 1:1, Mees 39‘. 2:1, Waldschmidt PEN 45+1‘. 3:1, Downs 56‘.
Referee: Tom Bauer (Mainz).
Booked: Thielmann (34‘), Lorenz (82‘).
Attendance: 50,000 (sold-out).