Own goal, missed penalty, top of the table: 1. FC Union Berlin will be at the top of the table at least until the late Sunday game in the Bundesliga. In the duel of the undefeated, the Irons win at FC Köln - and thus leave the great FC Bayern Munich behind.
Union Berlin has coped well with its failed Europa League debut and has stormed to the top of the Bundesliga table for at least a few hours. Three days after the annoying 0-1 draw against Belgian runners-up Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, coach Urs Fischer's ripped-off team deservedly won 1-0 (1-0) at 1. FC Köln and ousted Bayern Munich from first place. However, early in the evening (5.30 p.m. / DAZN) against Borussia Mönchengladbach, SC Freiburg still had the chance to overtake the Köpenickers again at the end of the sixth matchday.
Cologne's central defender Timo Hübers conceded an own goal in the third minute of FC's first defeat of the season, and shortly afterwards Jordan Siebatcheu (10') was saved from a very questionable hand penalty by FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe. Another goal by the conspicuous Sheraldo Becker (14th) did not count because of offside. Nevertheless, in the end the 13th Bundesliga game across the season was undefeated. Union was also happy about the return of Timo Baumgartl, who was in the squad for the first time after recovering from testicular cancer. Cologne central defender Luca Kilian saw yellow-red (81st).
FC coach Steffen Baumgart had reorganized his defense and deployed former Union player Kristian Pedersen on the left. Jonas Hector moved into attacking midfield, but the changes didn't help, Cologne had no access in this formation. Berlin started furiously, forced FC to make mistakes and took the lead with the first attack. Union could have scored more goals, but the hosts hardly got into the opposing half in an orderly manner.
Therefore, the Cologne team was able to record the 0:1 at half-time almost as a success. The difference in speed, impact and precision was too clear. FC, which is still working through the scandalous game in Nice, failed to launch an orderly attack in the first half and did not endanger Lennart Grill, who had moved into the Berlin goal at short notice. That changed abruptly at the beginning of the second round. Linton Maina appeared clear in front of Grill after winning a running duel, Frederik Rönnow's representative held strong (47th). However, Cologne could not establish themselves on the offensive and were rather lucky when a lob from Christopher Trimmel (57th) touched the crossbar of the FC goal.
With the lead behind them, Union avoided risk and focused primarily on the very strong defence. Cologne tried, but found no solutions. After the exhausting games on the international stage during the week, both teams lacked freshness and speed. Even the many standards of Cologne were not precise enough. Meanwhile, Berlin was waiting for a counterattack to add the second goal.
