Alidou leads Köln to huge upset win against parent club Eintracht
Relegation-threatened 1. FC Köln have snapped a six-game winless-run and earned their first victory under newly installed head-coach Timo Schulz. As carnival draws nearer, die Geißböcke were able to treat a sold-out RheinEnergieStadion to a most unexpected 2-0 home win over visiting Frankfurt.
Frankfurt loanee Faride Alidou proved the most influential factor in his team's win over his parent club. The 22-year-old drew a foul that reduced Eintracht to ten men, then scored his second ever Bundesliga goal (inside of seven days) to lift his team to victory.
Under-fire 1. FC Köln have lifted themselves up to 16th-place in the Bundesliga table after collecting what was just their third league win of the season in an unexpected home result on Saturday night. The cathedral city side scored two and kept a clean sheet against Dino Toppmöller's Eintracht Frankfurt. Köln will remain in the relegation playoff place through the week. Relegation rivals FSV Mainz 05 still have a game in hand to play against Union on Wednesday, but cannot catch the Domstädter after themselves losing today.
Frankfurt loanee Faride Alidou proved the most influential factor in his team's win over his parent club. The 22-year-old drew a foul that reduced Eintracht to ten men, then scored his second ever Bundesliga goal (inside of seven days) to lift his team to victory.
SGE trainer Toppmöller made two changes to the side that only just scraped past Mainz last Friday night. Hrvoje Smolcic replaced Willian Pacho in defense. The Ecuadorian had to sit out the match due to accumulated yellow suspension. Midfield linchpin Ellyes Skhiri also received his first start since returning from international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations. Skhiri took Donny van de Beek's place in the squad. The German Eagles re-formatted from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1. Timo Schulz went with the exact same team that drew Wolfsburg 1-1 last week.
Very little transpired during what was an extremely poor first half from both sides at the RheinEnergieStadion. Köln keeper Marvin Schwäbe only had to intervene once in the 40th when Skhiri got a decent effort on target in. Otherwise, neither team produced any scoring chances worthy of a highlight reel. The level of play didn't improve terribly much after the restart, though Skhiri's fellow returning North African AFCON representative Fares Chaibi did see a goal disallowed for offside in the 58th.
The game got turned on its head when Eintracht defender Niels Nkounkou - already on a yellow card - committed a highly egregious foul on Köln attacker (and Frankfurt loan-out) Faride Alidou in the 66th. Nkounkou saw his second yellow on what absolutely could have been a straight red. Alidou - who also netted his first Bundesliga goal last week against Wolfsburg - then skillfully redirected the ball into the back of the net from close range on the ensuing free kick moments later. Dejan Ljubicic initially sent the effort goal wards.
Ljubicic then earned a second assist on Jan Thielmann's 2-0 in the 80th. Matters got worse for Frankfurt when defender Tuta become the second player to exit the match on double yellows in the 83rd. Nine-man Frankfurt obviously had no hope of coming back after that. Thielmann - who has been forced to serve as a diminutive makeshift striker - also scored registered his first goal of the season. The entire Effzeh side spent a great deal of time celebrating in front of their loyal Südkurve after the full-time whistle.