Niclas Füllkrug strike earns Werder Bremen draw at Cologne
Linton Maina's early goal was cancelled out by Niclas Füllkrug's equaliser as Cologne and Werder Bremen battled to a 1-1 draw.
Cologne 1-1 Werder BremenGoals: 1-0 Maina 11’ (assist: Skhiri), 1-1 Füllkrug 69’Missed penalty: Dallinga 8’
Cologne made four changes as Marius Bülter, Ellyes Skhiri, Mikey Moore and Thijs Dallinga all came into the side, with Moore and Dallinga making their first Bundesliga starts. Saïd El Mala was back on the bench after missing Cologne's loss to VfB Stuttgart through illness.
Bremen, meanwhile, were unchanged for the first time under Daniel Thioune, fielding the same XI that beat RB Leipzig last time out. Mitchell Weiser returned to the matchday squad after 14 months out with an ACL injury.
Dallinga misses, Maina scores
Bremen created the first sight of goal early on when Füllkrug met Arthur's cross with his head, but his effort went straight into Marvin Schwäbe's arms.
Cologne then won a penalty when Dallinga's effort struck Youri Regeer's hand, but Karl Hein dived low to save Dallinga's spot kick. However, Cologne were not to be denied for long, as just three minutes later, Tom Krauß won the ball, fed Skhiri, who found Maina on the right, and the winger fired across Hein into the far corner to open the scoring.
The hosts continued to press, with Krauß forcing a save from Hein and Moore firing narrowly over. Marco Friedl then came close just before the interval, but his header from a corner drifted wide of the far post.
Füllkrug punishes Cologne passivity
Bremen started the second half with more intent. Olivier Deman and Chuki both brought Schwäbe into action before Eren Dinkçi sent an effort crashing against the crossbar.
Moore was then denied a fine individual goal on the counter in a rare moment of respite for Cologne, before Füllkrug finally made sure Bremen's dominance paid off as he reacted quickest to fire home after Amos Pieper's initial header had been blocked.
Cologne rallied towards the end and came close through substitute Ragnar Ache, but in the end, the game finished level.
Man of the Match: Niclas Füllkrug
Füllkrug's poaching instinct earned Bremen a point on the road. After seeing an early header saved, the forward was on hand in the box to fire home the equaliser in the 69th minute, a moment that turned the game and saw him named Man of the Match with 36 per cent of the vote.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Cologne 1.89 - Werder Bremen 1.47
Fastest player: Saïd El Mala (Cologne), 33.76 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 1-0 by Linton Maina (Cologne), 6 per cent
Most pressed player: Chuki (Bremen), pressure count listed at 10 pressures
Pass efficiency: Ellyes Skhiri (Cologne), +7.05
Fantasy Heroes: Karl Hein (Bremen, 274 Points), Ellyes Skhiri (Cologne, 223 Points), Niclas Füllkrug (Bremen, 221 Points)
