1. FC Düren beat 1. FC Köln U21 away from home – Abdul Fesenmeyer was the hero of the day.
In a hard-fought game that was open at all times, 1. FC Düren kept the upper hand in the neighborhood duel at 1. FC Köln U21.
Abdul Fesenmeyer was the only scorer of the day. After a through ball from Dennis Brock, the former KFC Uerdingen striker, who joined Düren from TSG Hoffenheim II in the winter, ran away from the Cologne defense and confidently pushed the ball past Cologne keeper Jonas Nickisch into the goal.
Captain Marco Höger, who is currently unavailable to the club due to knee problems, watched the game from the stands of the Franz Kremer Stadium. “It was a balanced game, maybe even with slight advantages on our side. We then made a small mistake in midfield in the first half, which put us behind, and then we found it difficult to be really forceful in the final third. You have to say that it was largely our fault that we didn’t get three points today,” analyzed the former Bundesliga professional.
Höger’s deputy Stephan Salger was also unhappy with his team’s performance. “I think we had a relatively good amount of control, but then we played very slowly and cautiously in the first 30 minutes, with too many contacts. Düren then takes the lead with a counterattack after winning the ball. That doesn’t make it any easier for us, but it doesn’t really change anything in the game. In the second half, we get off to a good start and control the game. In my opinion, Düren didn’t do much going forward. Maybe one or two set pieces, but we defended well against them.”
However, Salger criticized the fact that the FC youngsters did not create enough clear chances and did not take them. The defender also said: “We have to talk about the first 30 minutes in the team.”
On the other hand, the vice-captain praised 18-year-old Matti Wagner, who made his regional league debut that day. “Matti has been with us continuously since the winter break, trained well and also played a very good game today in his first competitive game. He played very maturely, had good actions and defended well,” said Salger about the young left-back’s performance.
1. FC Köln U21: Seven 2004s included
U21 coach Evangelos Sbonias also praised Wagner’s performance and emphasized that with goalkeeper Jonas Nickisch, defenders Rijad Smajic and Tidiane Touré, midfielders Emin Kujovic and Meiko Wäschenbach, and strikers Damion Downs and João Pinto, seven players born in 2004 were also in the starting lineup. According to Sbonias, this could also be one reason why the necessary cleverness is missing in some situations. “Of course it’s incredibly bitter to lose 1-0 here. It wasn’t our best game, but it’s not that I feel any worse about conceding a goal today. It’s just that Düren managed to score from the few chances they had and we didn’t score from the numerous chances we had. Then you lose a game like that 1-0,” said an annoyed Sbonias.
Naturally, the analysis of the opposing team was somewhat different. Düren defender Marcel Damaschek said: ”I thought we actually started the game very well, always had access in the center. We then also scored a goal, which we deserved. Then, shortly before half-time, you could see that Cologne were on the attack. We couldn’t clear the ball properly, but luckily we didn’t concede, which was very important. In the second half, it was relatively even. In the end, it was very competitive, but I thought we deserved to win.”