1. FC Köln wins against Schalke 04 1-0 in the 2nd Bundesliga

Then he went on the way into the half -time break, bent, born and guilty, on a day on which he was to be celebrated and given. But Mehmet Can Aydin, who was born in Würselen near Aachen 23 years ago on February 9th ago, felt the annoyance of his Schalke players on Sunday, especially from goalkeeper Justin Heekeren, who considered the birthday child with angry gestures.

And Schalke’s right-wing defense lawyer also had nothing to reply as guilty awareness and the commitment of his mistake, because 50,000 spectators in Cologne-Müngersdorf and the witnesses on the television screen had all seen it: Aydin’s debt on the game-decisive 1-0 (43.) for the 1st FC Köln shortly before the half-time whistle was around 99 percent after he had expired to the idea contradicting all textbook paragraphs to want to lead the ball to the goalkeeper with his chest. The Missriet campaign for the presentation for Cologne’s attacker Linton Maina, who gratefully recorded the abandoned ball and passed on to his storm partner Damion Downs, the rest was a little thing. “Mistakes are part of it, he is a young player who has made an assessment that he hopefully will never make again,” said Schalke coach Kees van Wonderen later.

However, Aydin did not need to be blamed that his gift produced the only goal on Sunday afternoon. That was already the joint work of coach van Wonderen and his team, who found the host Cologne in a not irresistible constitution – aftermath of the bitter cup game with excess length on Wednesday in Leverkusen (2: 3), the Cologne were noted in the second half at the latest .

Schalke’s captain Karaman thinks that Cologne was struck

But van Wonderen was too economical with the means of his squad, he started too late to the offensive, the Cologne team could bring their lead to the finish. For the seventh time since October, when coach Gerhard Struber had prescribed his team to the defensive, FC won a second division game 1-0. “It may not always look nice,” Struber admitted, which everyone had seen. But “at the moment it is difficult to get into the score”. 40 points on the account and the leadership give its method right, the FC is on track.

Schalke captain Kenan Karaman caught the course of the game in a contradiction: “Cologne was beatable,” he said – and added: “You saw why they are up and we are down.” who for the time being the two clubs have had their glorious times. On the one hand, the Cologne team, which takes the order seriously, mercilessly unadorned football, if necessary, make the way back to the first division. On the other hand, a Schalke team in the renovation, whose completion is in an uncertain distance. Hopes that you can get involved a bit in the race for the front places have been done after the defeats against Magdeburg (2: 5) and now in Cologne for the Gelsenkircheners. The danger is now on the program: relegation battle is unlikely but possible.

Schalke only increases his offensive level after a triple change

Both sides had to compensate for personnel deficits. The Cologne team played without defense chief Timo Hübers (blocked), and attacker Tim Lemperle is still urgently missing. Her most successful goal scorer Moussa Sylla was lost to the Schalkern with a muscle fiber tear at short notice, which also had an impact on the second goal scorer: Kenan Karaman moved into the tip of the attack, but did not cope with the role. Again and again he let himself fall into midfield instead of filling the front line.

But the audience also had problems with the game, which gave little pleasure. The first chance of scoring only appeared in the 35th minute: Schalke’s defender Marcin Kaminski failed due to FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe. Shortly afterwards, Downs shot the 1-0 with his fifth ball contact – testimony to the cautious efforts of Cologne. It was only after an hour that the hint of game culture developed after Van Wonderen had finally substituted three players who increased the offensive level, including left wing Ilyas Hamache and the technically experienced last-minute access Aymen Barkok. There were still a few options for the Schalke, but no other player scored to compensate for the accident of the long -substantiated Mehmet Can Aydin.