Nine days after the bitter round of 16 defeat against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig has sent an impressive signal in the fight for a direct return to the Champions League. At the start of the 26th matchday, the Saxons achieved a deserved 5:1 (1:1) win against sixteenth-placed 1. FC Cologne and moved past Borussia Dortmund into the coveted fourth place for at least two nights.
BVB can overtake Eintracht Frankfurt again with a win on Sunday (5:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN), but a draw would not be enough for the runner-up. In contrast, FC is threatened with falling into a direct relegation zone eight match days before the end of the season. For Cologne it was the heaviest home defeat since a 1:6 against Dortmund in March 2012.
Xavi Simons had put the Saxons in the lead (15th minute), FC quickly equalized through Sargis Adamyan’s first Bundesliga goal in 559 days (18th). But Loïs Openda made things clear with two goals (63./67.). The Belgian, who came from Lens in the summer, now has 19 goals to his name this season. Amadou Haidara (70th) and Yussuf Poulsen (82nd) followed up.
“It was a lot of fun, especially at the end, but also hard work,” said Leipzig left-back David Raum on DAZN. Cologne’s Jeff Chabot struggled with the many goals conceded: “We definitely didn’t plan on collapsing. The fact that we get five things is of course bitter.”
Cologne receipt follows promptly
From the kick-off, a respectable game developed with Leipzig clearly superior in terms of play and Cologne bravely resisting. It took a quarter of an hour for the first good opportunity to score – but that immediately made it 0-1. Xavi Simons completed a great move with his right foot following preparatory work from Dani Olmo and Benjamin Sesko.
The Dutchman scored 1-0 for his club for the sixth time this season. Only Bayern star Harry Kane managed to do this more often. However, the goalscorer then allowed himself to be carried away by a completely unnecessary provocation of the Cologne fans.
The acknowledgment followed promptly when FC equalized just three minutes later: After a corner from Florian Kainz and a header from Eric Martel, Adamyan Benjamin Henrichs escaped and pushed the ball over the line from two meters. But after that Leipzig got the game under control.
Sargis Adamyan scored for Cologne, but FC still lost significantly. : Image: AFP
After half an hour, Sesko missed a huge opportunity when he hit the ball over the crossbar from three meters after a save from Marvin Schwäbe against Olmo. Five minutes before the break, Henrichs missed from a promising position. The strong Olmo took the excess of chances to the extreme with a shot off the post and Openda failed from three meters to Schwäbe in stoppage time.
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After the substitution, the game initially remained one-sided in favor of the guests, but the Cologne team set the highlight with a spectacular scissor strike from Max Finkgräfe (54′). When Openda completed another dream combination via Sesko and Xavi and then headed in a cross from David Raum, it was initially completely quiet in the Cologne World Cup stadium. The FC fans picked themselves up again, but things got even worse for Cologne on the pitch.