Red card and defeat in Cologne: almost everything goes wrong when Schalke returns to the Bundesliga

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Schalke's Dominick Drexler saw the red card for this kick against Jonas Hector

Photo: Marius Becker / dpa

FC Schalke 04 suffered an away defeat on its return to the Bundesliga.

At 1. FC Köln, coach Frank Kramer's team lost 1:3 (0:0).

Luca Kilian took the lead after a corner kick (49'), Florian Kainz followed suit (62').

For the Gelsenkirchen team, who had been outnumbered since Dominick Drexler was sent off (35'), it was only enough for Marius Bülter to score in the meantime (76').

The final score was an own goal by Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow (80th).

After the cup defeat at Jahn Regensburg, Steffen Baumgart changed the Cologne starting eleven to a total of six positions.

The most prominent change was in the center of attack: Anthony Modeste, the team's top scorer with 20 goals in the previous season, was absent from the squad.

Cologne's Managing Director Sport Christian Keller had confirmed before the game that the attacker would sign a contract with Borussia Dortmund on Monday, subject to the medical check.

Florian Dietz made his debut in the Cologne starting eleven for Modeste.

With this new set-up, Cologne seemed to have to cope with an initial setback early on: Schalke's Rodrigo Zalazar overcame Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe (9') with a sharp shot from the edge of the penalty area.

However, the scene was checked by the video assistant - with the result that the goal should not count: Maya Yoshida had been in an active offside position when Zalazar shot.

Afterwards, Cologne was clearly the better team.

Julian Chabot scrambled the ball centimeters wide of the goal after a corner (17'), Dietz' hard but unplaced header was parried by Schwolow in the Schalke goal (25').

But the game tilted even further in favor of the hosts: The former Cologne professional Drexler climbed Jonas Hector's calf with the cleats in a duel.

After intervention by the video assistant, the foul resulted in a red card and Schalke were now outnumbered (35').

A smart corner cracks the defense

Cologne's lead after the break was preceded by a corner kick - but not one that was hit high into the penalty area: Steffen Baumgart's team played their way over several stops, first with short passes centrally in front of the edge of the penalty area, then shallowly in depth.

Defender Kilian finally pushed the ball over the line (49').

Shortly thereafter, Kainz made it 2-0 after Schwolow's goalkeeper error (62').

Cologne remained the better team, Bülter's header after a corner kick came out of nowhere (76').

Cologne then made the final point again: a header from Dejan Ljubicic first smacked against the post and then bounced into the goal from Schalke goalkeeper Schwolow.

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