1. FC Köln were beaten 3:1 by FC Bayern München on Wednesday evening at the RheinEnergieSTADION. A superb team performance went without reward for Lukas Kwasniok’s side, despite Linton Maina’s thunderbolt giving FC the lead. Serge Gnabry struck in stoppage time in the first-half to restore parity. Min-jae Kim and Lennart Karl scored in the final 20 minutes to give the visitors all three points.
Team news
Lukas Kwasniok made four changes to the side that started the draw in Heidenheim on Saturday. Eric Martel, Denis Huseinbašić, Alessio Castro-Montes and Fynn Schenten were replaced by Cenk, Kristoffer Lund, Linton Maina and Said El Mala.
Vincent Kompany also opted for four alterations to the team that got the better of Wolfsburg at the weekend. Min-jae Kim, Hiroki Ito, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry came in for Dayot Upamecano, Josip Stanisic, Tom Bischof and Lennart Karl.
Level at the break
FC began the game brightly and had the first major opening of the match. Linton Maina moved the ball into the path of Said El Mala, who raced past Min-jae Kim to poke at goal. Manuel Neuer managed to stay big and parry.
After a 10-minute break due to pyrotechnics, the game continued with Bayern beginning to up the pace. Marvin Schwäbe had to be alert to deny Hiroki Ito after some tidy build-up from the visitors. It was more brute force from Serge Gnabry, though Schwäbe stood strong and parried his vicious low drive from 20 yards.
FC continued to trouble Bayern on the counter and that paid dividends in the 41st minute. Linton Maina broke forward and strode all of 60 yards before unleashing a thunderous effort that Manuel Neuer could only help on its way into the back of the net. Müngersdorf erupted after a fine strike that wasn’t at all undeserved.
That joy would only last eight minutes, however. Bayern combined quickly down the right and eventually saw Serge Gnabry break into the box. He managed to force the ball into the ground and over a sprawling Schwäbe from a ridiculous angle to get the visitors back on level terms as the half-time whistle sounded.
Bayern with a late double
The second-half began with both sides pushing for a second goal, with FC having the best opportunity in the early stages. Jakub Kamiński rushed onto a Tom Krauß pass but Min-jae Kim produced an incredible sprint to put off the Pole. Kamiński then stung the palms of Neuer moments later, his half-volley was parried well to the side.
Kim was the player who gave Bayern the lead in the 71st minute, heading home from Hiroki Ito’s header from a deep cross. 13 minutes later, Lennart Karl finished off from Luis Diaz’s driving run to put the result beyond doubt.
FC are back in action on Saturday afternoon against 1. FSV Mainz 05. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION is at 15:30 CET.
Line-ups
1. FC Köln (3-4-2-1): Schwäbe – Sebulonsen, Simpson-Pusey, Cenk – Thielmann (Niang 85’), Krauß, Kamiński, Lund (Jóhannesson 78’) – Maina (Schenten 67’), El Mala (Waldschmidt 78’) – Ache (Bülter 78’).
FC Bayern München (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Laimer, Kim, Tah (Upamecano 67’), Ito (Guerreiro 88’) – Goretzka, Pavlovic – Olise (Bischof 82’), Gnabry (Karl 67’), Luis Diaz – Kane.
Goals: 1:0, Maina 41‘. 1:1, Gnabry 45+5‘. 1:2, Kim 71’. 1:3, Karl 84’.
Referee: Patrick Ittrich (Hamburg).
Booked: None.
Attendance: 50,000 (sold-out).