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Nils Petersen scores to make it 1-0
Photo: HORSTMUELLER GmbH / imago images / Horstmüller
1. FC Köln suffered a setback in the relegation battle.
After two wins in a row, FC lost to SC Freiburg 1: 4 (0: 2).
The goals for the guests were scored by Nils Petersen (18th minute), Ermedin Demirovic (20th), Vincenzo Grifo (90th + 3) and Jonathan Schmid (90th + 6).
Sebastian Andersson scored to 1: 2 (49th).
Cologne coach Friedhelm Funkel only changed his starting line-up in one position after the 3-2 win in Augsburg: Kinglsey Ehizibue returned to the team after being suspended.
At Freiburg, after the weak performance at Hertha BSC, there was much more reason for change: Christian Streich offered five new ones, including Mark Flekken in goal for Florian Müller.
He had to fear for the first time in the 17th minute when Ondrej Duda curled a free kick from a central position just past the corner.
In return, however, the goal fell on the other side: After a blackout by Ellyes Shkiri, Freiburg's attacker Petersen came to an end in the FC penalty area and overcame goalkeepers to give the guests a 1-0 lead (18th).
Cologne looked shocked and Freiburg took advantage of this: In the next attack, Demirovic scored 2-0 (20th) after preparatory work by Grifo, who had fit nicely from the baseline to the second post. Surprisingly, Streich had called up two strikers - both had scored after just 20 minutes.
After a weak first 45 minutes, the Cologne team appeared much more energetic at the beginning of the second half - and were promptly rewarded. Substitute Ismail Jakobs brought the ball from the wing into the penalty area, where Andersson put the ball into the near corner in a technically demanding manner (49 '). Excitement then after almost an hour: Jakobs went to the ground before touching it in the opponent's penalty area, but referee Marco Fritz still decided on a penalty. However, Duda slipped while executing and shot the ball over the goal (61.).
In stoppage time, the supposed equalizer: Jan Thielmann had scored (90 + 1), but the referee team wanted to have seen a handball by Jonas Hector beforehand.
Here, too, there was probably a wrong decision, because the ball hit the Cologne captain's shoulder (90th + 1).
In stoppage time, Grifo and Jonathan Schmid increased to 1: 3 and 1: 4 on Freiburg counterattacks.
With 44 points, Freiburg is now moving closer to Borussia Mönchengladbach and Union Berlin (46 points each), the two competitors for a place in the Conference League.
For Cologne, the situation in the relegation battle has worsened again significantly.
mfu