Brazilian loanee Deyverson (r.) opened the scoring for the Billy Goats against the Eagles with his first Bundesliga goal
Brazilian loanee Deyverson (r.) opened the scoring for the Billy Goats against the Eagles with his first Bundesliga goal

Köln hit four in Frankfurt victory

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Cologne - 1. FC Köln turned on the style in an entertaining 4-2 win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 24.

Slow start

Alex Meier scored twice for the visitors to move top of the leading scorers charts on 18 goals, but the damage had already been done following well-taken efforts from Deyverson, Marcel Risse, Yuya Osako and Anthony Ujah. Köln defender Kevin Wimmer's injury-time sending off was merely academic.

Deyverson was rewarded for scoring his first competitive goal in Köln colours in the midweek DFB Cup defeat to SC Freiburg with his maiden Bundesliga start. Visitors Frankfurt made a couple of changes of their own, with Peruvian defender Carlos Zambrano and Swiss international forward Haris Seferovic both restored to the starting line-up following suspension.

There was a lot of huffing and puffing in the opening 20 minutes, before Köln’s Risse finally got away the first shot of the afternoon. The effort sailed comfortably over the crossbar, but there were signs that the Billy Goats were beginning to seize the initiative, despite Frankfurt enjoying 62 per cent possession.

One apiece


Sure enough, it was the home side who took the lead when Ujah flicked Timo Horn’s long punt into the path of Deyverson, who sent a delightful lob over the head of onrushing Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and into the net. Ujah was played clean through on goal with three minutes of the half reaming, but Trapp stood tall to make the stop.

27 of the Eagles’ 44 Bundesliga goals so far this term had been scored in the second half, though, and the visitors ensured that run would continue at the RheinEnergieStadion. Bastian Oczipka’s threaded pass found Lucas Piazon, who guided the ball onto the toe of Meier. Horn kept out the initial effort with a fine reaction save, but the Eintracht frontman pounced on the rebound to level.

Floodgates open


Pockets of space were beginning to appear all over the pitch as both sides sought the winner. Ujah blazed over with the goal at his mercy, before Seferovic raced onto a clever pass from Japanese international captain Makoto Hasebe, only for Köln defender Dominic Maroh to intervene just as the Swiss striker was about to pull the trigger.

The Billy Goats retook the lead in the 72nd minute when Risse squeezed an effort in at Trapp's right-hand post from the edge of the area and they didn't look back from thereon in. Substitute Osako beat the offside trap to add a third, before Ujah lashed in his ninth of the campaign. Meier pulled one back from the spot in injury-time following Wimmer's sending off for a foul on Seferovic, but by that point Köln were already celebrating only their second home win of the campaign.

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