1. FC Köln fell to a late defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening. After having the better chances in the first-half, BVB enjoyed the better of the second period. After Timo Hübers was stretchered off with a serious knee injury, FC battled on with 10 men having used all substitutions. It looked for all the world that the points would be shared until a deflected Maximilian Beier effort found a way into the back of the net in the 96th minute.
Team news
Niko Kovac opted for four alterations to the line-up that began in Dortmund’s victory in Copenhagen. Julian Ryerson, Pascal Groß, Carney Chukwuemeka and Karim Adeyemi came in for Yan Couto, Jobe Bellingham, Julian Brandt and Maximilian Beier.
Lukas Kwasniok made four changes to the side that started against FC Augsburg last weekend. Cenk, Denis Huseinbašić, Marius Bülter and Said El Mala replaced Joël Schmied, Dominique Heintz, Jan Thielmann and Luca Waldschmidt.
Level at the break
FC looked to hit Dortmund on the break in the first-half and that was the case on several occasions. Those counters usually ended with Said El Mala, though he failed to find the bottom corner after break free in the 19thminute. El Mala continued to cause problems in combination with Jakub Kamiński, though the crucial finish was lacking.
The hosts were largely active down the right with the dangerous Karim Adeyemi. He managed to wriggle his way past Cenk, only to be denied by Marvin Schwäbe. It would be the first of many superb saves on a wet and windy evening in Dortmund.
Drama at the death
The second-half saw Dortmund push for the all-important opening goal. Marvin Schwäbe produced a special save to keep out Sehrou Guirassy’s volley from close-range, with the FC stopper then stretching to turn over Felix Nmecha’s strong drive from the edge of the area not long after.
Another reaction stop in the latter stages looked to have secured a point for FC, who were down to 10 men after Timo Hübers was stretched off in the 85th minute. FC were 60 seconds away from surviving the late Dortmund salvo, though Maximilian Beier’s deflected effort found a way into the bottom corner to break FC hearts.
Kwasniok’s side are next in action on Wednesday evening after tonight’s fixture kick-started the busy week. FC Bayern München are the visitors to the RheinEnergieSTADION in the second round of the DFB-Pokal with kick-off on 29th October at 20:45 CET.
Line-ups
Borussia Dortmund (3-4-2-1): Kobel – Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Nmecha (Bellingham 85’), Groß (Sabitzer 68’), Svensson (Brandt 85’) – Chukwuemeka (Beier 68’), Adeyemi (Fabio Silva 79’) – Guirassy.
1. FC Köln (3-4-2-1): Schwäbe – Hübers, Martel, Cenk (Heintz 55’) – Sebulonsen, Jóhannesson (Schmied 72’), Huseinbašić (Ache 72’), Lund – El Mala (Maina 72’), Kamiński – Bülter (Krauß 46’).
Goal: 1:0, Beier 90+6’.
Referee: Benjamin Brand (Schwebheim).
Booked: Jóhannesson (44’), Sebulonsen (45’), Guirassy (63’), Beier (90+1’).
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out).