Cedric Teuchert scored a second-half penalty as 1. FC Union Berlin were put through their paces in a 1-2 defeat to Bundesliga rivals 1. FC Köln.

The teams from Germany's top flight met at the Zeppelinstadion to celebrate the 111th birthday of VfB Friedrichshafen and collect minutes against competitive opposition. Köln, who finished 14th in last season's Bundesliga, established an early lead with two goals inside a minute through Noah Katterbach and Jhon Cordoba. 

While Union couldn't make up the deficit, Teuchert added another goal to his pre-season account from the penalty spot after 51 minutes.

1. FC Köln: Horn (Zieler 45); Katterbach (Lemperle 45), Schmitz (Ehizibue 45), Czichos (Voloder 75), Bornauw (Cestic 45); Hector (Horn 45), Jakobs (Skhiri 45), Rexhbecaj (Höger 45); Kainz (Drexler 45), Thielmann (Clemens 75), Cordoba (Özcan 45)

1. FC Union Berlin: Luthe; Trimmel, Knoche, Schlotterbeck, Dietz (Friedrich 70), Trimmel; Gentner, Prömel; Endo (Ingvartsen 70), Becker (Mees 82), Teuchert (Andersson 70)

The second pre-season game in 24 hours gave Urs Fischer the chance to spread minutes across his first-team squad. Union's contingent who sat out yesterday's defeat in Austria to WSG Swarovski Tirol faced up to a familiar challenge in the shape of 1. FC Köln. Fischer's starting line-up featured a number of new faces – Andreas Luthe, Robin Knoche, Nico Schlotterbeck, Keita Endo and Teuchert.

Union's strong start in Bavaria should have earned them the lead in the fourth minute. Sheraldo Becker's tidy cross landed perfectly on the head of Grischa Prömel, but the midfielder struck the crossbar. Markus Gisdol's team came out winners in a chaotic 30 seconds which saw the Carnival Club go into a two-goal lead. Cologne's young left-back Katterbach rifled a powerful shot past Andreas Luthe to open the scoring, while just seconds after the restart of play, Cordoba finished off after a succession of mistakes in the Union rearguard. Timo Horn in the opposite goal had little work in the first 20 minutes aside from a long-range shot from Keita Endo which trickled wide. Union's mistakes proved their own downfall in defensive situations and Cordoba will count himself unlucky not to have bagged a hat-trick before half an hour.

1. FC Köln rotated at the break and introduced five new players for the second half. Maybe that was one factor, but the Köpenick club looked more lively and direct than in the first 45. Clever footwork from Prömel won a penalty kick after 51 minutes and Teuchert finished off with a composed finish. Union's coaching team will have been happier with how Köln were restricted to less opportunities in the second half. Salih Özcan curled a shot wide of the target after 71 minutes but Luthe had it under his watch. Union's first chances came with around 20 minutes to play and included both Sebastian Andersson and Marcus Ingvartsen – the pair are getting closer to fitness step-by-step after some issues in the early days of pre-season. Substitute Joshua Mees missed a chance to square the game with three minutes left, but Gisdol's side held out to win the game.