SV Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Köln shared the points on Friday night. The fixture, which opened matchday 14, was dominated by the Billy Goats but they were harmless in an attacking sense. Newly promoted Darmstadt fought hard and deserved their 15th point of the season. Köln are eighth, with 20 points to their name. The Lilies are currently 12th.
"If everything had gone to plan, we’d have been rewarded. However, we knew that it would be tough here. Darmstadt are strong at the back. We’re satisfied with the point, even though our performance probably warranted more,” explained Köln boss Peter Stöger. His opposite number, Dirk Schuster, was also happy with the point.
The game, which was played in front of a capacity crowd of 17,000, featured plenty of chances, however, a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing meant that the back of the net was never really troubled. The opening exchanges were dominated by the hosts: Jan Rosenthal (8’) failed to beat Timo Horn when well placed. Marcel Risse had a similar chance at the opposite end of the pitch moments later but he too failed to convert. The same player created a chance for Yannick Gerhardt soon after but his first time effort sailed over the bar.
Modeste fails to convert
This chance inspired the visitors, who came close to going in front on numerous occasions. Matthias Lehmann’s long range effort was pushed onto the post by Christian Mathenia after 24 minutes. Pacy winger Leonardo Bittencourt made life especially tricky for the home defenders – his penetrative run was followed up by a classy cross, however, Yuya Osako was unable to tap home.
The hosts, who had been quiet since the ten-minute mark, created their next chance after 36 minutes when Rosenthal headed over the bar. The best chance of the half fell the way of the visitors soon after but Anthony Modeste was unable to fire home after classy work from Gerhardt. The Lilies ended the half on top but Wagner’s two chances were off target.
Aytekin goes off injured
Two changes took place at the break: Gerhardt was replaced by Simon Zoller for Köln. The other substitution concerned the referee. Deniz Aytekin tore a muscle in the first half. Christian Dietz took over, taking charge of his first Bundesliga game in the process. The visitors raced out of the traps and created five chances in the first 15 minutes, although none of them proved particularly dangerous.
SV Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Köln shared the points on Friday night. The fixture, which opened matchday 14, was dominated by the Billy Goats but they were harmless in an attacking sense. Newly promoted Darmstadt fought hard and deserved their 15th point of the season. Köln are eighth, with 20 points to their name. The Lilies are currently 12th.
"If everything had gone to plan, we’d have been rewarded. However, we knew that it would be tough here. Darmstadt are strong at the back. We’re satisfied with the point, even though our performance probably warranted more,” explained Köln boss Peter Stöger. His opposite number, Dirk Schuster, was also happy with the point.
The game, which was played in front of a capacity crowd of 17,000, featured plenty of chances, however, a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing meant that the back of the net was never really troubled. The opening exchanges were dominated by the hosts: Jan Rosenthal (8’) failed to beat Timo Horn when well placed. Marcel Risse had a similar chance at the opposite end of the pitch moments later but he too failed to convert. The same player created a chance for Yannick Gerhardt soon after but his first time effort sailed over the bar.
Modeste fails to convert
This chance inspired the visitors, who came close to going in front on numerous occasions. Matthias Lehmann’s long range effort was pushed onto the post by Christian Mathenia after 24 minutes. Pacy winger Leonardo Bittencourt made life especially tricky for the home defenders – his penetrative run was followed up by a classy cross, however, Yuya Osako was unable to tap home.
The hosts, who had been quiet since the ten-minute mark, created their next chance after 36 minutes when Rosenthal headed over the bar. The best chance of the half fell the way of the visitors soon after but Anthony Modeste was unable to fire home after classy work from Gerhardt. The Lilies ended the half on top but Wagner’s two chances were off target.
Aytekin goes off injured
Two changes took place at the break: Gerhardt was replaced by Simon Zoller for Köln. The other substitution concerned the referee. Deniz Aytekin tore a muscle in the first half. Christian Dietz took over, taking charge of his first Bundesliga game in the process. The visitors raced out of the traps and created five chances in the first 15 minutes, although none of them proved particularly dangerous.
Zoller’s cheeky back heel in the box (61’) caused some confusion in the Darmstadt box but Sulu recovered well and smacked the ball to safety. Chances were few and far between in the final half hour and as a result of this, the scoreboard was rarely threatened and the game ended goalless.
