SV Werder pick up a point after a 1-1 draw away to 1. FC Köln. After a quiet first half, during which Köln had the better of the game, Florian Kohfeldt’s men came out and dominated the second half – their efforts being rewarded in the 66th minute in the form of a Josh Sargent header. A late equalier from Jonas Hector meant the Green-Whites missed out on all three points. WERDER.DE brings you the match summary:
Team news: Florian Kohfeldt made two changes to the side that beat Eintracht Frankfurt last Friday. For the first time since Matchday 5, Niclas Füllkrug was back in the starting XI and played up front alongside Josh Sargent. Roman Schmid started on the bench. Ludwig Augustinsson also made his return from injury and replaced Felix Agu in the line-up. Eduardo dos Santos Haesler stood in as the back-up goalkeeper in place of the injured Michael Zetterer.
Starting XI: Pavlenka – Augustinsson, Möhwald, Rashica, Füllkrug, Veljkovic, Sargent, Toprak, Gebre Selassie, Friedl and Eggestein.
Substitutes: Dos Santos Haesler – Osako, Selke, Bittencourt, Agu, Moisander, Schmid, Mbom and Groß.
8th minute: Ludwig Augustinsson’s cross from the left his met by Niclas Füllkrug at the near post, who steered his header over the crossbar.
14th minute: Great stuff from Josh! The American chases the ball on its way to the corner flag and at full pace he somehow swings the perfect cross into the middle. Niclas Füllkrug, waiting in the middle, takes it down, shimmies past the defender but fails to get enough power behind the shot, which is held by Timo Horn.
21st minute: Ellyes Skhiri finds himself unmarked in front of goal from a corner – Jirí Pavlenka shows terrific reflexes to block the shot at point-blank range. The rebound is blocked by the Green-White defence.
29th minute: Free kick crossed into the middle by Ludwig Augustinsson. Ömer Toprak rises above the rest but can’t get enough power behind his header to trouble Timo Horn.
42nd minute: Köln with a free kick in a promising position after Marco Friedl’s handball. Elvis Rexhbecaj goes for the top left corner but misses the target.
47th minute: The first chance of the second half falls to SVW: Kevin Möhwald opens up the play for Milot Rashica on the left wing, who takes a few steps in-field before teeing up Ludwig Augustinsson. Ludde’s shot is blocked and deflected wide.
66th minute: GOAL for Werder! Josh Sargent makes it 1-0. A throw-in on the right is extended into a cross by Romano Schmid which finds Josh Sargent completely unmarked at the back post. The American makes no mistake with the header.
70th minute: Another good move from a Werder throw-in. This time Milot Rashica tries his luck from the edge of the area. His shot is parried away by Timo Horn into the path of Ludwig Augustinsson, who blazes his shot wide of the target.
75th minute: Werder have been the better team since the half-time break and Köln are struggling to create much going forward. Jonas Hector’s header will go down as a half chance as Pavlenka watches it sail wide.
77th minute: That was close! Marius Wolf carries it into the penalty area and lets fly. A deflection steers the shot closer to Pavlenka’s goal, but fortunately just over.
83rd minute: Goal for Köln. Jonas Hector makes it 1-1. A cross from Wolf is cleared away at first, but the ball is sent back into the area where Pavlenka is unable to get a hold of it in the fifty-fifty with Emmanuel Dennis. Hector latches onto the loose ball and pushes it over the line.
In conclusion: SVW travel back to the Weser with a point in the bag. After a defensive first half kept a superior Köln side at bay, Kohfeldt’s men dominated large parts of the second half. Joshua Sargent’s goal could have won the game, but a late Jonas Hector equaliser means the points are shared.
