The 5000 Bochum fans enjoyed the rare feeling of happiness to the fullest. "Away win," they chanted during the final minutes of the game. And when this was sealed with the final whistle and everyone in front of the bench, except for the quiet connoisseur Thomas Letsch, threw their arms in the air, they sang the message of the evening: "VfL is back."
The 2-0 (1-0) after goals by Kevin Stöger (9th minute / penalty kick) and Erhan Masovic (76th) left Bochum from last place in the Bundesliga and temporarily jumped to 14th place.
"I think the team gave it their all today," said Bochum winger Christopher Antwi-Adjei after the second away win of the season at DAZN. "We fought well and finally scored a goal," said the 29-year-old, who won the penalty to make it 1-0. Referring to the recent 2-0 home defeat against Schalke, he added: "Today we wanted to show a different face, and we did that quite well."
Cologne coach Baumgart criticizes "slight mistakes"
The people of Cologne, on the other hand, were served. Striker Davie Selke did not see VfL's "deserved victory": "They played here today with very, very simple means," said Selke. "Luck is not on our side right now." Defender Timo Hübers complained: "We've had better days." And coach Steffen Baumgart criticized "many minor mistakes."
Cologne are now only five points ahead of Bochum in the table. FC have not scored in six of seven games in the second half of the season and have been waiting for a striker goal for almost 800 minutes.
Riemann holds Bochum the zero
The game started as ordered for the guests: Cologne's defender Hübers had fouled Bochum's Antwi-Adjei. The foul was undisputed, the Cologne team only complained that it was outside the penalty area. But the contact took place on the line and Stöger happily converted under the belly of FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe.
Cologne looked shocked and were lucky when Takuma Asano, Japan's World Cup winning goal scorer against Germany, twisted from a tight angle (12') and failed at Schwäbe (31'). Jeff Chabot then had the equalizer on his feet at the other end, but Riemann made a strong save again and prevented the defender from scoring his first Bundesliga goal.
FC offensive too harmless
His team became more and more powerful, but remained too harmless in front of goal, as so often recently. Another important move by Letsch was the move to appoint Captain Anthony Losilla as special guard for Skhiri on his 37th birthday. Far fewer impulses than usual came from the Tunisian, the six from the Cologne playmaker. VfL also defended in a disciplined manner.
Masovic finally made the decision, who, after a low free-kick variant, happily got the ball in the penalty area and scored to make it 2-0. The Cologne team then tried to catch up, but Riemann thwarted the few chances. Even three minutes of stoppage time didn't help the hosts in the end.
