1. FC Köln vs 1. FC Union Berlin
Bundesliga, 11. Matchday
Köln vs 1. FC Union
Bundesliga, 11. Matchday
Ryerson scores as Union draw in Köln
Match report
1. FC Union Berlin fought hard in Köln and will return to the capital with a point following a 2-2 draw at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion.
Julian Ryerson made it back-to-back Bundesliga goals after his first-ever league strike for Union Berlin at home to Bayern Munich last weekend. Ryerson's equaliser pegged Köln back after Anthony Modeste opened the scoring. Grischa Prömel struck near half-time before Union dominated most of the second half. Despite a strong showing by Urs Fischer's side, Modeste struck with four minutes to play to leave both teams with a share of the spoils.
1. FC Köln: Horn; Schmitz, Hübers (Killian 65), Czichos, Hector; Ljubicic, Özcan; Kainz, Duda (Thielmann 65), Uth (Andersson 76); Modeste
1. FC Union Berlin: Luthe; Knoche, Friedrich, Baumgartl; Gießelmann, Ryerson, Prömel, Haraguchi (Öztunali 85), Khedira; Awoniyi (Behrens 85), Becker (Voglsammer 71)
Niko Gießelmann, Timo Baumgartl, Taiwo Awoniyi, Julian Ryerson and Grischa Prömel were brought back into the side having sat out Thursday's UEFA Europa Conference League defeat to Feyenoord at the Olympic Stadium. After Prömel headed over in the third minute, the visitors from Köpenick had to deal with an early set back. Anthony Modeste finished off a rebound from Florian Kainz's powerful shot which came back off the crossbar and landed right in the direction of the French striker. As soon as the goal song of the home side petered out, Union drew level through Ryerson. The Norwegian full-back showed great determination to support the attack on the break, and then cooly dispatched a shot into Horn's near-post corner. Three minutes later, a cleared corner kick landed as far as Genki Haraguchi but the Japan internationalist fired over with a half-volley attempt. Patterns started to develop in the match and one particularly was the ability from Union on the counter-attack, helped by the superb hold-up play of Awoniyi. Referee Tobias Stieler adjudged there to be no foul on the Union top goalscorer after he was brought down on the edge of the box by Timo Hübers. Stieler consulted with the video assistant referee, but as the foul was not deemed to be inside the box, Union gained nothing for their efforts. 1. FC Köln created a double chance to get in front, but Union held out. Modeste headed wide from the edge of the box on 38 minutes before Ondrej Duda smashed a shot off the side-netting two minutes later. Although the home side had enjoyed a good period of play, Union fought back before referee Stieler blew the whistle for half-time. Union's aggressive pressing put Köln under pressure at the back, with Rafael Czichos conceding play to Prömel. The midfielder combined with Haraguchi before finishing past Timo Horn from about six yards out in the first minute of stoppage time. It could have got even better for the Köpenick club as Taiwo Awoniyi fought past his marker Hübers but blazed his effort over from close range.
Steffen Baumgart's team were protecting an unbeaten home record having secured impressive results against RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. The Billy Goats peppered the away box without creating a lot of clear opportunities. On 51 minutes, Dejan Ljubicic fired one from distance but Andreas Luthe parried wide. Florian Kainz's cross two minutes later was flicked towards goal by Jonas Hector but the ball landed fortunately for Union on the other side of the post. From here, Union kept Köln at arm's length while moving the ball around with zip and precision. Genki Haraguchi followed up a strong match on Thursday in Europe with another terrific midfield performance. He drove down the right-hand side on 55 minutes, picked out Awoniyi around 20 yards out but the shot was miles over Horn's crossbar. Andreas Voglsammer was Union's first change in place of Sheraldo Becker who also ran an excellent race in attack. Sebastian Andersson, who left Union for Köln in 2020, was introduced with 14 minutes to go. Union switched around to give the team some fresh legs going into the final sprint – Awoniyi and Haraguchi were replaced by Kevin Behrens and Levin Öztunali. But Baumgart's side dug deep and found another gear to push Union into a difficult position on the edge of their own box. A set-piece was key to the equaliser and Modeste headed past Luthe with four minutes left. There was one last opportunity for the Köpenick club to salvage three points but Horn was in the right place at the right time to block Voglsammer's goal-bound volley at the front post. One or two dangerous balls ended up coming into the Union penalty box, but in the end the away side held on to the one point despite the pressure from the home team.
Union return to league business in Köln
Match preview
1. FC Union Berlin will need to quickly put Thursday behind them as Urs Fischer's side meet 1. FC Köln at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion on Sunday at 17:30.
Review — The last match:
In Group E of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Union suffered a first home defeat against Feyenoord. An agonising winning goal from Cyril Dessers on 73 minutes came about due to the slippery conditions after heavy rainfall in Berlin over the previous 24 hours. Conditions were tough and the Dutch side managed to come out on top. Luis Sinisterra put the visitors ahead after 15 minutes, but captain Christopher Trimmel fired in a stunning equaliser — just rewards for an excellent reaction on the part of Union. The Köpenick side looked in control for most of the second half, but Andreas Luthe got his side out of a hole on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, the Union goalkeeper lost his footing under a little bit of pressure and Dessers put the away side into the lead. Urs Fischer's side went down to nine men in the closing minutes with dismissals for Trimmel and Cedric Teuchert.
1. FC Köln — Opposition Report:
Under a familiar face, Steffen Baumgart, 1. FC Köln have made a fine start to the campaign. The Billy Goats have 13 points from a possible 30 and have themselves a four-point cushion above any relegation danger. While Köln haven't won in three, it is clear that they are more convincing on home soil. Baumgart has brought his style of play to the club, which was enormously successful at Paderborn. At the Rhein-Energie-Stadion, Köln have experienced one defeat out of their last previous seven matches in the Bundesliga — a late-season loss to the stable and impressive SC Freiburg. In that time, RB Leipzig have left without three points on two occasions while Köln staged an impressive comeback to draw 2-2 with UEFA Europa League participants Bayer Leverkusen.
1. FC Köln — The coach's view:
"I find Köln to be a very consistent team," said Urs Fischer at the pre-match press conference. "They will put the game in Hoffenheim behind them. Their style is high intensity and they give everything, they play mostly forwards. They play through pressure. They are doing really well ... in the first few minutes in Köln we have to be on it, this is something which has been discussed. On Thursday, we needed time to get into the game and we were already 0-1 behind. We need to improve this."
Personnel:
Max Kruse is "one or two days" away from being match ready. Sunday's game comes too quickly for Union's number 10 despite his recovery going well this week. Urs Fischer has a full squad to pick from for the trip to Köln.
Service:
The match is going under 2G conditions in Köln — you must present full vaccine or full recovery status at the stadium. A code with ticket details was sent to all ticket holders before the 3rd of November.
Union will be backed by 900 supporters at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion.