At the start of the 18th matchday of the Regionalliga West, spectators in Cologne saw a thrilling derby with a dramatic finale.

The second half of the Regionalliga West season kicked off with a real top-of-the-table clash in Cologne. After all, Friday evening (December 1) saw the U21 teams of 1. FC Köln and Fortuna Köln, fourth and second in the table, go head to head.

And the hosts went on the offensive right from the kick-off at the Franz-Kremer-Stadion: a long ball from Meiko Wäschenbach flew through the Fortuna defense and found Pierre Nadjombe, who kept his cool after a good ten seconds and scored the early lead for “Effzeh.”

The game flattened out after this lightning start, before picking up again after a good half hour. Stipe Batarilo had the best chance for Fortuna (30′), then the home side responded with a double strike. After a foul on Justin Diehl, Damion Downs converted from the spot (36′), and just two minutes later Diehl himself made it 3-0.

In the second half, there were few chances at either end. Things remained quiet in front of goal until the 68th minute, when substitute Danny Breitfelder scored out of nowhere to make it 1-3 after a cross from the right – with over twenty minutes still to play, Fortuna still had plenty of time.

Damaj misses chance to win it for Fortuna

But Effzeh threw everything forward, while the visitors increased the pressure and put on a real power play in the final minutes. This worked well for the hosts for a long time, but in the 87th minute, the deadlock was broken for a second time: this time it was Dominik Lanius who scored the 2-3 with a deflected shot.

Now the home side seemed broken, while Fortuna actually managed to equalize. A free kick found the head of Jonas Scholz, who nodded in to make it 3-3 in stoppage time (90+1). And there was even a chance to snatch an away win, but Leon Damaj, who had also come on as a substitute, was denied by Effzeh goalkeeper Jonas Nickisch.

So the points were shared, meaning that neither team can really put any pressure on leaders 1. FC Bocholt and the rest of the competition in the promotion race ahead of Saturday’s games.