1. FC Köln continued their unfortunate run on Wednesday night with a 0-1 (0-1) loss against SG Eintracht Frankfurt. Marcel Haller scored the goal of the night with a disputable penalty in the first half.

After the defeat in Dortmund Peter Stöger changed his defense. Experienced Kocka Rausch, Dominic Maroh and Denmark international Frederik Sorenson started instead of Jannes Horn, Jorge Meré and Lukas Klünter.

Haller from the spot

The hosts focused on a compact defense and tried to approach the Eintracht goal with long passes in search of central forward Jhon Cordoba. FC were the more offensive side at the 15-minute mark, but were just too sloppy in possession. Frankfurt capitalized on a mistake by Maroh as Gacinovic took the ball into the box. Timo Horn came out and brilliantly made contact with the ball, but referee Martin Petersen pointed to the spot. Questionably, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not make an appearance as Haller converted the penalty (21’).

Leo fouled but ignored

FC were determined to respond quickly, but Zoller hammered the ball into Hasebe’s face from close range (27’). FC were the better side now and when Falette took down Bittencourt from behind in the penalty area, nearly everyone in the stadium expected a penalty (33’). Unfortunately, referee Petersen waved play on. Thus, FC went into the break with a strange sense of injustice.

Second Half

Stöger reacted and went for Marcel Risse in place of Simon Zoller on the right flank. 48 minutes into the match, FC attacked with Bittencourt and Osako from the left. The Japanese striker entered the box, but his effort went harmlessly into Hradecky’s arms. Stöger made further changes at the hour mark and brought on creative midfielder Jojic and speedy Klünter for the right flank. Jojic immediately had a good effort from the edge of the box (66’), but FC continued to lack the clinical edge to get the goal.

In the remainder, Osako was suddenly free from his marker, but failed to hit the target from a promising position (78’). The hosts showed a good fighting spirit but were not dangerous enough in attack against the organized visiting side, who carried away the three lucky points with a clever performance in the second half.

In Hannover on Sunday

Peter Stöger’s team hope for better in their away game against Hannover 96 on Sunday, 24 September (15:30) before hosting Red Star Belgrade four days later.

Match Details

1. FC Köln: T. Horn – Sorensen (60’ Klünter), Maroh, Heintz, Rausch – Höger (60’ Jojic), M. Lehmann – Bittencourt, Zoller (46’ Risse) – Osako – Cordoba

SG Eintracht Frankfurt: Hradecky – Abraham, Hasebe, Falette – Chandler, Fernandes, Tawatha – Gacinovic (90’ Russ), Rebic (68’ de Guzman) – K.-P. Boateng (74’ M. Wolf), Haller

Goal: 0-1 Haller (21’, penalty)

Yellow cards: M. Lehmann (30’), Rausch (37’) | Tawatha (90’)

Referee: Martin Petersen

Attendance: 49,000