Darmstadt and Cologne fought a hard battle in the basement duel, which the visitors deserved to win.
Davie Selke scored the winning goal for 1. FC Köln in their second Bundesliga victory of the season, lifting them out of the relegation zone, at least for the night. The striker scored in the 60th minute to make it 1-0 (0-0) in the basement battle against newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98, who suffered their fourth home defeat.
Thanks to a better goal difference, Cologne moved ahead of their rivals, who are level on points, to 15th place with nine points. The new bottom club is Champions League participant 1. FC Union Berlin (7), who face FC Bayern Munich on Saturday.
From the kickoff, a hard-fought match developed in front of 17,810 spectators, with both teams revealing their shortcomings. Long and high was the order of the day, which proved to be ineffective. Chances were few and far between for both sides.
After a good 20 minutes, Marvin Mehlem had to leave the field with an ankle injury. The agile offensive player had been fouled shortly before by Florian Kainz. Veteran Tobias Kempe came on for Mehlem.
Nothing was working for the Hessians now. But even FC, who had significantly more possession, struggled and remained harmless in attack. As a result, neither goalkeeper had to make a save in the first half, as neither team managed to get a shot on target.
There was a brief moment of excitement when Cologne’s Luca Kilian went down in the Darmstadt penalty area and the visitors demanded a penalty. However, referee Patrick Ittrich correctly allowed play to continue.
After the break, it remained a tough battle of attrition, with the home side now looking a little more determined and creating their first chance. Tim Skarke narrowly missed the FC goal with a shot.
At the other end, Dejan Ljubicic had the chance to put the visitors ahead, but his shot from a tight angle was saved by Lilien goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen. Shortly afterwards, however, Cologne had reason to celebrate: a corner from Luca Waldschmidt was unfortunately deflected by Darmstadt’s Mathias Honsak and fell to Selke, who had no trouble finishing from five meters out.
Just six minutes later, Waldschmidt scored what looked like the second goal for Cologne. However, the goal was disallowed after a video review revealed that there had been an offside. Shortly afterwards, the video assistant referee intervened again after Ittrich had awarded a penalty for handball by the home side. After reviewing the TV footage, the referee reversed his decision.
In the closing stages, Lilien coach Torsten Lieberknecht brought on fresh legs, but the visitors continued to have the better chances. Waldschmidt and substitute Max Finkgräfe both failed to beat Schuhen shortly before the end.
How they played:
Darmstadt 98: Schuhen – Klarer, Ja. Müller (83. Karic), Maglica – Skarke, Gjasula, Holland, Nürnberger (82. Stojilkovic) – Marvin Mehlem (23. Kempe), Honsak (65. Vilhelmsson) – Seydel (65. Luca Pfeiffer)
1. FC Köln: Schwäbe – Kilian (46. Finkgräfe), Hübers, Chabot, Heintz – Ljubicic (90.+3 Uth), Martel – Thielmann, Kainz (46. L. Waldschmidt), Maina (85. Olesen) – Selke (73. Tigges)
Referee: Patrick Ittrich (Hamburg) – Attendance: 17,810 (sold out)
Goals: 0-1 Selke (60)
Yellow cards: Seydel / Kainz, Hübers, Selke