In the Bundesliga, bottom club SV Darmstadt 98 gave 1. FC Köln a decisive goal in their relegation battle. The Hessian guests deserved to win.
On Saturday (April 20th, 2024) the SVD won 2-0 (0-0) in the Rhineland and bagged their third win of the season. Christoph Klarer (57th minute) and Oscar Vilhelmsson (90th) scored the goals for the bottom team.
To the live ticker: Cologne – Darmstadt Arrow right 30th matchday Arrow right
Hope near Darmstadt? “It’s hard to believe in it”
With the away win – also the first success since the beginning of October 2023 – Darmstadt keeps the very small remaining hopes of the relegation place alive. The “Lilien” (17 points) are nine points behind the 16th place in the table. Mainz, twelve points are still up for grabs. However, SVD has a significantly worse goal difference.
“The boys always stuck to themselves, trained well and were rewarded today,” said Darmstadt coach Torsten Lieberknecht after the game at the Sportschau microphone. “We are totally realistic. For us it’s about: When we say goodbye, we want to do it with a certain attitude. It’s difficult to believe in the really big miracle.”
Disappointment in Cologne – “Far too little”
And there is increasing desperation among Cologne, who have only won one of the last ten league games: FC, second to last with 22 points, is still four points behind Mainz, who will increase the gap even further on Sunday in Freiburg can.
“We didn’t put in a good performance on the pitch, we weren’t dangerous enough and of course that’s far too little,” coach Timo Schultz told Sportschau after the game. “There are still four games to go, purely mathematically everything is still possible. Accordingly, we will now shake ourselves up – but it is also clear to us that we don’t need to compete like this again.”
Tim Wichmann, Sportschau, April 20, 2024 5:44 p.m
Alidou’s post shot was the only highlight in Cologne
As expected, it was a tough affair right from the kick-off in Cologne-Müngersdorf. Both FC and Darmstadt tried to avoid their own mistakes. An extremely static game developed, Darmstadt concentrated on defensive work – and Cologne lacked any brilliant ideas in the attack department, which is the weakest in the league with only 23 goals.
Cologne still had the best opportunity in the first half. Winger Faride Alidou overcame Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen, but the post prevented FC from taking the lead (18th).
Otherwise there was a lot of bits and pieces to see. Darmstadt recorded a slight increase in duels and slightly more possession of the ball, but FC had more shots on goal (eight), striker Sargis Adamyan alone tried three times – just as often as Darmstadt did in the first half.
Klarer takes advantage of chaos in the FC penalty area after a corner
However, the “Lilies” found their way better into the second half and appeared near the goal more often. And then it was a standard situation that helped the breakthrough: Tobias Kempe took a corner, the completely disorganized FC defense couldn’t clear the ball – Klarer was the quickest, tunneling through Timo Hübers and goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe to take the lead.
It was the eleventh goal of the season against a standard for FC, who then acted as if paralyzed. Shortly afterwards, Joker Honsak almost increased the score when he headed past from an unmarked position (63′).
FC poor on offense, Darmstadt ice cold
Cologne then fought back, repeatedly pushing into the attacking third, but failed there due to a lack of precision or communication. Significantly: Jeff Chabot, who was basically only at the front in the final phase, had the ball stolen by Adamyan after a chest attack in the penalty area, whereupon Chabot complained angrily (74th).
The low-lying Darmstadt team did better at the end. A long shot from the goalkeeper’s shoes slipped over Hübers’ head to Gerrit Holtmann, Schwäbe parried the shot – but Vilhelmsson dusted off the rebound and put the cap on it.
Cologne in Mainz under high pressure, Darmstadt against FCH
For 1. FC Köln there will be another duel with a direct competitor in the relegation battle on matchday 31. The FC will then be a guest at 1. FSV Mainz 05 (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.). Darmstadt welcomes 1. FC Heidenheim (Sunday, 7.30 p.m.).