Cologne – Union Berlin 2: 2: MODEST saves a point for Cologne against Union

More ball possession, more duels won – but much less effectiveness: 1. FC Köln scored a point against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga thanks to “hat stealer” Anthony Modesti.

At 2:2 early in the evening on Sunday (November 7, 2021), FC missed taking three points from the sometimes oppressive lead. Al Ittihad were on their way to winning the Champions League until shortly before the end – before Modeste struck again and stole the hat from coach Stephen Baumgart while celebrating the goal.

MODEST uses Kainz-Kracher

With two teams defining themselves with great effort and quickly bridging the midfield after winning the ball, the dangerous final situations immediately emerged. In particular, the football club was immediately filled in front of 50,000 spectators in Müngersdorf. In the seventh minute, Florian Caines dared to shoot from 25 metres, put the ball on the crossbar – Modesty was mentally faster than the Union defenders and pushed the ball over the line to make it 1-0.

As is often the case in the past few weeks, the Irons were initially asleep and seemed to need a wake-up call to start their offensive game. But they responded immediately. After just two minutes of incapacitation, Nico Geiselmann pressed the left flank and directed Julian Ryerson into the penalty area, who hit Timo Horne with the wrong foot with his shot in the near corner. The FC goalkeeper didn’t even react – Union returned to the match with a 1-1 draw.

Stieler and VAR are wrong

In the 28th minute, the VAR should have intervened and ordered referee Tobias Stiller to leave. After a poor pass from Jonas Hector, Taiwo Awoniyi broke into the Cologne penalty area and was put on the penalty line by Timo Hübers. But Stieler did not recognize the obvious mistake, wrongly leaving the match and not being corrected – there should have been a penalty for Union. If VAR wants to realize during its review that the error occurred outside the box and therefore no need to intervene, then it is a mistake.

Leading the guests was totally undeserved. The Cologne team was clearly superior, taking nearly 70 percent and winning two-thirds of all duels in the second half. The efficiency in attack was reminiscent of the last 2-0 draw against Dortmund – the decisive difference compared to the guests.

Chicos caused the residue

The Berlin players, on the other hand, were lucky that Modesti’s header after the Keynes winger went straight wide – and that FC provided an involuntary support. Similar to Hector’s error before the break, Rafael Chekos also wanted to playfully solve it from behind – Grisha Brommel took advantage of a foul pass after pass from Genki Haraguchi to make it 2-1.

It could have gotten worse. In injury time, Awoniyi played on the completely submerged Hübers in the six-yard area, dizzy, and fired a clear shot, but fired the ball over the crossbar.

Bad luck twice for Hector

But the Cologne team came out of the break as it shows regularly this season under Stephen Baumgart: morale is high. In the 54th minute, Keynes should have been rewarded with another pass for his strong performance. But Hector allowed the measurement of the Colony’s best man to slip on his forehead and lost the compensation in centimeters.

After that, there was growing confusion in FC, Union gained more possession of the ball, but not offensively. Just a quarter of an hour before the end, it became dangerous again, but this time Hector found his master with a powerful left-footed shot at Union goalkeeper Andreas Luth.

Keynes Corner, Modeste Header

When it seemed like a completely unnecessary defeat, Cologne’s best players scored a new goal: Kaines hit a corner kick in the penalty area in the 86th minute, and Modeste crossed Timo Baumgartel and headed the ball to equalize 2-2.

Even after the international break, FC will be back in action on Sundays: then on November 21, 2021 from 5.30pm on Mainz 05, the points will go up. Al Ittihad welcomes Hertha in a local derby from 6.30pm the day before.

Those: sportschau.de