1. FC Köln ended the last road fixture of 2016 with a draw against SV Werder Bremen (1-1). Artjoms Rudnevs put FC in front (28') before Serge Gnabry equalized for the hosts (40'). In the final minutes Marco Höger was clearly fouled in the opponent box but the whistle was not blown.

After Salih Özcan's suspension against Dortmund Peter Stöger had to make a change in personnel. As a result, Konstantin Rausch defended on the left and deputy captain Jonas Hector teamed up with Marco Höger in central midfield.

Offensive FC

1. FC Köln started as the more dominant side in this match. FC won numerous corners and attacked regularly. 28 minutes into the match, Jonas Hector nutmegged Sane to play a perfectly-timed through ball into the path of Anthony Modeste. The Frenchman's finish was parried by keeper Jaroslav Drobny, but Rudnevs was well-positioned and finished easily. This was the Latvian's second goal of the campaign after scoring last week against Dortmund.

Bremen equalize

FC were in full control of the match and Bremen were kept away from Kessler's goal. Nevertheless, the hosts suddenly evened the score. Fritz laid the ball off into the feet of Serge Gnabry, who took the shot and beat the FC keeper with his right foot from 36 yards (40'). Some minutes later the youngster entered the box from the left, but could not get past Kessler from an acute angle. The rebound was bent goalwards by Pizarro, but Kessler deflected this shot against the right corner of the goalpost (45').

Chances for both sides

Bremen made a change in central midfield, where captain Clemens Fritz was replaced by Zlatko Junuzovic. The second half was balanced. Heintz challenged Drobny with a powerful shot from the edge of the box (58'). Some minutes later Sorensen had to cut out 2 Werder shots in the nick of time (61'). Then FC threatened again but Modeste (64') and Osako (65') failed to hit the target from promising positions.

Uncalled Penalty

In the closing minutes Rudnevs headed goalwards from the six-yard line, but into Drobny's arms (80'). A minute later Stöger brought on two fresh strikers (Zoller and Guirassy for Rudnevs and Modeste). In the closing stages of the match Höger was clearly fouled in the opponent box, which should have resulted in a penalty for FC. Instead, referee Wolfgang Stark penalized Höger with a yellow card for protesting. As a result, Höger will miss Wednesday's match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen because it was his fifth card of the season.

Last match of 2016

With this 24th point of the season 1. FC Köln will host Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Wednesday, 21 December 2016 (20:00).

Match Details

SV Werder Bremen: Drobny – Ro. Bauer, Lu. Sané, Moisander, S. García – Fritz (46' Junuzovic), Bargfrede – Bartels (90' Gebre Selassie), Gnabry – M. Kruse – Pizarro (75' Johansson)

1. FC Köln: Kessler – Sorensen, Mavraj, Heintz – Olkowski, Höger, J. Hector, Rausch – Osako – Modeste (81' Guirassy), Rudnevs (81' Zoller)

Goals: 0-1 Rudnevs (28', Modeste), 1-1 Gnabry (40', Fritz)

Yellow cards: Johansson (87') | Modeste (25'), Guirassy (85'), Höger (89'), Hector (90')

Referee: Wolfgang Stark

Attendance: 42,100