On the 33rd day of the 2nd Bundesliga, 1. FC Nürnberg lost 1:2 against 1. FC Köln at home. In his debut as coach, Friedhelm Funkel, Köln started like a fire brigade, allowing FCN little room to breathe. However, in the 10th minute, Lemperle had a huge chance to score after a botched Janisch clearance, but the striker missed the open goal. In the 19th minute, Thielmann for Köln had a chance, but his shot hit the right post after being set up by Kainz. On the other side, Lubach missed a chance for FCN in the 27th minute, as he aimed too far to the left. In the 36th minute, Köln should have been leading 1:0, but Thielmann’s shot from 17 meters hit the crossbar and in the follow-up shot, Drexler cleared Waldschmidt’s shot off the line. Köln deserved the lead at halftime. Instead, Klose’s team took the lead immediately after the restart, with Antiste scoring in the 46th minute after a Janisch cross was cleared by Heintz to Antiste’s foot, who placed the ball perfectly into the left corner. Maina had the equalizer on his foot in the 64th minute, but Kukucka won the duel with the winger. However, a huge mistake led to the 1:1 in the 67th minute, as Jander lost the ball to Waldschmidt after a bad clearance and the ball passed Lemperle and eventually found its way into the net. Nürnberg had a few more chances, but Köln held on and scored the winning goal in the 87th minute, as Kukucka lost the ball to Lemperle, who passed to Kainz and scored the final goal amidst the frenzied cheers of the Köln fans. Köln moved to the top of the table with the win, increasing their lead over third place to six points. Nürnberg remains in tenth place, but in a parallel game, Preußen Münster won 2:0 against Hertha BSC and secured three important points in the battle against relegation.
Köln Defies Odds, Snags Last-Minute Win Over Nürnberg in Dramatic Finish
