1. FC Köln missed a home win against Werder Bremen

1. FC Köln gave up their home win against Werder Bremen. Coach René Wagner's team couldn't get past a 1-1 (1-0) draw on Saturday evening in front of 50,000 spectators in the sold-out Cologne stadium. After Cologne's early lead through Linton Maina (eleventh minute of the game), Niclas Füllkrug (70th) equalized for Bremen in the second half.

Bremen got off to a lively start and had their first chance after four minutes. Füllkrug headed too centrally into the arms of FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe. The home team's first attack led to a hand penalty shortly afterwards (8th) after Youri Regeer received the ball on his outstretched arm. Starting eleven debutant Thijs Dallinga started, but was denied by Karl Hein, who directed the low shot onto the post.

Despite the missed penalty, the Cologne team stayed on the attack. After a pass intercepted by Tom Krauß, Ellyes Skhiri served Maina on the right corner of the penalty area, who hit the far corner from an acute angle to make it 1-0.

Just two minutes later, Hein prevented Krauß from scoring the next goal. Bremen found their way back into the game after the pressure phase and the early setback, but faced an opponent who defended deeply and closely.

Werder Bremen lacks penetration

With the lead behind them, the Cologne team retreated far and waited for a counterattack from their compact defense. Bremen had more possession of the ball, but hardly found any solutions offensively. The Hanseatic League repeatedly looked for Füllkrug to cross, but they didn't really pose a threat. Scenes in the penalty area remained scarce until half-time, so FC went into half-time with a lead for the first time this season.

The second half went into the second half without any personnel changes. As in the first half, Bremen had the first chance after the restart. However, Schwäbe safely parried Oliver Deman's shot. Both teams took a wait-and-see approach and were careful to avoid mistakes. However, Cologne appeared to be even more passive than before the break and hardly ever made any relief attacks.

Luckily for Cologne, a shot from Eren Dinkci hit the crossbar (58th). Shortly afterwards, FC went on the offensive again. Mikey Moore, the second starting eleven debutant of the day, caused a stir in the stands when he failed to beat Hein from around 20 meters after a solo through midfield. On the other side, Bremen deservedly struck: Füllkrug scored from a corner to make it 1-1.

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In the 74th minute, Wagner brought on Said El Mala, who was recently ill. But even the striker, who was hoping for a nomination for the national team, was no longer able to set any decisive accents.

jwo with dpa