Fortune favours the brave, they say. Maybe FC Köln had little option this weekend after six matches without a win, leaving them stuck in the relegation mud. In a city where the fortunes of Effzeh are felt so intensely, it hasn’t just been the shortcomings but the mood. After sweeping to the 2. Bundesliga title last season on the back of 84 goals scored, the 12 in 14 scored before this weekend meant that all the air had seeped out of the club’s post-promotion bounce. Something had to change.

Yet thinking and doing in a derby are two totally different things. Bayer Leverkusen made the short hop south into the city on the cusp of the top four and having won their last Bundesliga away game – at Bayern, of all places. Granted, it wasn’t like facing Borussia Mönchengladbach, with whom Köln have an even more intense rivalry and who, of course, have played with the sort of style during this season’s success which they would love to have for their own side, but nevertheless, it remained daunting. “Leverkusen have the better team and they are capable of a lot,” admitted sporting director Horst Heldt after the game, “but we had to resist.

Was Markus Gisdol the man to author an exploit? For many underwhelmed by the former Hoffenheim and Hamburg coach’s appointment, it felt not. Yet the 50-year-old rose to the occasion, sensing it was the moment to take a chance. Out of his squad went the experience of Florian Kainz, with Birgir Verstraete and even Köln-born Marco Höger left out of the XI too. In came Jan Thielmann, at 17 Germany’s first top-flight player born in 2002, who had impressed staff with his performances for the under-19s but had never even been included in the senior squad before. The left side was composed of 18-year-old Noah Katterbach and Ismail Jakobs, 20, with a total of 10 Bundesliga appearances between them. Leverkusen are a flagship in promoting youth, and their long-termism was clear on the day on which Kai Havertz, at a few days over 20 years and six months, became the youngest ever player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances.

Havertz is an exceptional talent and, on another day, could have decided this game but Köln, and Gisdol, simply had to dare. “The coach would have been aware of the risk,” wrote Alexander Haubrichs of the city’s Express newspaper. “But he also knew that after the bloodless performance in Berlin, there couldn’t be any more.” After a relatively promising start last week at Union, Köln had ended up well beaten by a side that needed a nervy playoff to get promoted and were considered near-certainties for relegation at the start of the campaign.

Fans of Bayer Leverkusen light flares in the stands during their team’s 2-0 derby defeat. Photograph: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images

Gisdol’s plan worked. And it seemed like it was a plan, not just a desperate coach throwing a Hail Mary pass into the ether. Tielemann, Katterbach and Jakobs performed admirably but so did the team’s experienced players who had to be responsible and guide the youngsters. Captain Jonas Hector had his best game of the season. Goalkeeper Timo Horn made vital first-half saves from Nadiem Amiri and Havertz which laid the foundations for a second-half push for victory. As one - and propelled by the home support, who predictably raised the roof - they scrapped with heart and head.

Once the visitors’ Aleksandar Dragović was sent off for a second booking, Köln made their move. Jhon Córdoba, the expensive recruit who had such a hard time replace Anthony Modeste after the latter’s move to China (and before his return), continued his rebirth, scoring a third goal in four to open the scoring and celebrating as a derby goal should be celebrated, totally unconscious of his teammates waiting for VAR confirmation. Leon Bailey, Leverkusen’s hero of Munich, then saw red for whacking Kingsley Ehizibue, much to the annoyance of Peter Bosz and company on the bench, and the game was up, with Sebastiaan Bornauw heading in a second.

“We played a really good game and deserved to win,” said Heldt. “The way we played showed the team wants to try everything to pull us out of this situation.” Desire can win a derby and now, it needs to turn around a season. Gisdol, surprisingly for some, might have begun to show that he has the ideas to couple smarts with that heart.

Quick Guide Bundesliga results Show Hoffenheim 2-4 Augsburg, Fortuna Düsseldorf 0-3 Leipzig, Paderborn 1-1 Union Berlin, Mainz 0-4 Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin 1-0 Freiburg, Köln 2-0 Leverkusen, Bayern Munich 6-1 Werder Bremen, Schalke 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg 2-1 Mönchengladbach

Talking points

• Saturday felt like the first time when Bayern revolved around Philippe Coutinho. It was one of those comfortingly familiar afternoons for Bayern on which they trailed to inferior opponents for a decent chunk of time – they were behind for 20 minutes after Werder Bremen’s Milot Rashica bedazzled Jérôme Boateng before smashing in a glorious opener. They then went on a belated rampage, and it was the Brazilian who led the way with a hat-trick and two assists. “I’m extremely happy for him,” said Hasan Salihamidzic. “Today he really showed what he’s made of.” Though the sense in Bavaria is that Barcelona are prepared to climb down from the €120m purchase clause in the clubs’ loan deal, it feels like Coutinho running the show at home and abroad will need to be a near-weekly occurrence if this move becoming permanent is to turn from option to probability.

Philippe Coutinho is a baller!



He hit an outrageous hattrick that gets better with every goal! pic.twitter.com/SrAmaWuTmz — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 14, 2019

• “It was,” said Marco Reus, “a good team display.” Hearing Dortmund’s captain come out with such a simple, confirmatory phrase must have been balm to the ears for Schwarzgelben supporters after a campaign littered with irritated post-match swears from the skipper, driven to distraction by his side’s shortcomings. Those never looked like resurfacing at Mainz after Reus opened the scoring, with Jadon Sancho (scoring for a sixth straight game), Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz scoring in one of BVB’s most complete performances of the season. The real test, however, comes with the visit of leaders Leipzig to Westfalen on Tuesday.

• That’s right, leaders Leipzig, who swept past flagging Fortuna Düsseldorf with some comfort. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are becoming known for their ferocious starts to games against weaker teams, which manifested itself here in the revitalised Patrick Schick’s goal after 64 seconds, an advantage that they never looked like letting slip. “We were able to hold something back with Tuesday in mind,” Nagelsmann said.

• Borussia Mönchengladbach missed the chance to retake the lead at the top as they fell to a second stoppage-time defeat in four days; after being eliminated from the Europa League by Enzo Crivelli’s late goal for Basaksehir on Thursday, they went down to Max Arnold’s crisp strike at the end of Sunday’s trip to Wolfsburg. Despite the lateness of the moment that sealed the result Oliver Glasner’s side richly deserved it, with Gladbach having looked flat at both the start and finish of the match.

• There was a first win too for Jürgen Klinsmann as the head of Hertha, as they edged out Freiburg thanks to Vladimir Darida’s superbly-struck winner against his former club. “With every three points, things get easier,” Klinsmann said.