Köln and Hoffenheim play out a thrilling stalemate

Before kick-off Hoffenheim manager Ralf Rangnick stated, "the atmosphere inside the RheinEnergieStadion is fantastic" and with the home fans in good spirits from the start, the "cauldron" did little to disappoint. Starting the match in full voice the atmosphere was fantastic from start to finish. Both teams were looking to bounce back from poor mid-week results, which saw both managers opting to make changes to their teams. For Zvonomir Soldo's side, Taner Yalcin and Sebastian Freis were replaced in midfield by Adam Matuschyk and Martin Lanig. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim welcomed back Tom Starke in goal with Christian Eichner was given a rare start in place of Marvin Compper.

Köln on a mission

From the very first whistle Köln immediately began putting pressure on 1899 with Lanig being presented a chance to put the hosts 1:0 up within 3 minutes. Failing to do that, Soldo's men continued playing like a team intent on getting forward at every opportunity. Then as Hoffenheim began controlling the possession, a Köln throw-in saw the home side take a deserved lead. Played in to Mato Jajalo, the midfielder battled his way through three Hoffenheim players before bundling the ball through to Lukas Podolski. The prolific German international had no hesitation in pulling the trigger inside the box giving Tom Starke no hope of stopping the left-footed effort crashing into the back of his net. Hoffenheim, who had no chances to speak of within the first 25 minutes, could then count themselves lucky for not going 2:0 down when Jajalo's cross took a deflection off of Simunic and ricocheted off the right hand post of Starke's goal. As Rangnick's men tried to play their way into the match under increasing pressure from the home side, Köln continued to use the counter attack to full effect. The first-half petered out with Hoffenheim unable to truly test Faryd Mondragon in goal, meaning they had a lot to consider during the half-time break.

The tale of two halves

Rangnick made the neccessary changes at half time as he tried to swing the game back in Hoffenheim's favour, with Simunic and Weis making way for Sigurdsson and Mlapa. A rejuvenated Hoffenheim had a spring in their step and began proving their goal scoring threat straight away. Salihovic sent a stinging 30 yard effort at Mondragon who was fortunate to see the ball spill out of his hands and harmlessly out of play. Minutes later they had the breakthrough. Eichner found Demba Ba on the edge of the area and the striker worked the space well to bend his right foot shot around defender Geromel, into the far corner, to silence the home crowd. The scorer then turned provider, when he fed Ibisevic in the box, only for the Bosnian to squander the chance to put 1899 1:2 ahead. By this time Köln had lost themselves and were a shadow of the team from the first half. With both teams chasing the 3 points Hoffenheim missed a golden opportunity to take the lead, with Ba seeing his shot blocked after a good counter attack by Mlapa, while Starke had to make a good save from a Petit free-kick as well as a clear cut Lanig chance. Neither team was able to find a way through, though, and in the end cancelled each other out in the final stages to share the spoils in the Friday evening match.

 

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