1899 Hoffenheim put a bitter damper on the sprouting European Cup dreams of 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga.

In Cologne, too, the trees do not grow into the sky, not even after the best Bundesliga start in six years. At the start of the eighth game day of the Bundesliga on Friday evening (October 15, 2021), the previously disappointing TSG Hoffenheim showed its beautiful face and beat Steffen Baumgart’s team 5-0 (1-0).

Ihlas Bebou (31st minute / 49th), Christoph Baumgartner (51st), Dennis Geiger (74th) and Stefan Posch (88th) scored the goals for the Kraichgauer.

Horn: “That was a bitter blow on the neck”

FC goalkeeper Timo Horn told the sports show after the game: “It’s bitter. We were really shown how it can happen. That was a bitter neck blow. If you give them too much leeway, they are able to consistently play it off and also shoot us under the Sterich. ”

Hoffenheim rebuilds the defense, Cologne without captain Hector

Hoffenheim’s coach Sebastian Hoeneß had rebuilt his defense. Kevin Vogt and Chris Richard surprisingly sat on the bench. Kevin Akpoguma and Stefan Posch are in central defense, and the most recently injured Austrian international Christoph Baumgartner is also in the starting line-up.

Salih Özcan replaced the injured midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, who had three of the Rhinelander’s last four goals, when the Cologne team had started the season so well. Captain Jonas Hector had signed off at short notice and was played by Kingsley Ehizibue.

Curious big opportunity

From Hoffenheim’s point of view, things got off to a pretty good start. FC defender Rafael Czichos (7th) crossed the ball from the corner flag in front of his own goal in a curious action – TSG striker Andrej Kramaric gratefully accepted the ball in the penalty area, but failed because of the great parrying Cologne goalkeeper Horn.

The game was played intensively by both teams, but many bad passes on both sides did not allow the game to flow properly. Compelling scoring chances remained in short supply.

Hoffenheim’s leadership out of nowhere

Significantly, the Hoffenheim lead gate came out of nowhere. Kramaric sent Bebou steeply into the interface of the Cologne defense with a brilliant pass. The Croatian attack partner also rounded FC goalkeeper Horn and easily pushed the ball into the goal.

As a result, Cologne continued to act with commitment, but lacked creativity and punch in front of the Hoffenheim goal. The FC also did not bring the notorious emotionality onto the pitch.

Double strike at the beginning of the second half

Before the Cologne can pull themselves up in the second round, the TSG brutally followed suit. Four minutes after the restart, Akpoguma served Bebou in an exemplary manner in front of the goal, who completed it elegantly with a hoe. Just two minutes later, David Raum passed from the baseline to Baumgartner, who was from close range.

From this shock experience, the Cologne no longer recovered. Even if they didn’t bury their heads in the sand, they only reacted and could never build on the passionate performances of the previous weeks – even the encouraging chants of the FC supporters did nothing to change that.

Highest victory under Hoeneß

After the ice-cold double strike, Hoffenheim limited themselves to conserving their strength. But that was enough to give the FC two more goals. Geiger managed to block Akpoguma’s shot from close range. A free kick by Kramaric (81st) from about 20 meters hit the crossbar. Posch’s header hit shortly before the end marked the highest Hoffenheim victory in the aegis of coach Hoeneß.

Of the 1. FC Cologne Bayer Leverkusen’s neighbors are now awaiting the derby in Müngersdorf on the 9th matchday (October 24, 2021, 3:30 p.m.). 1899 Hoffenheim is also a guest at Bayern Munich at 3:30 p.m. the day before.

Source: sportschau.de