1.FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund clashed at the RheinEnergieStadion in Week 17 of the Bundesliga, with both sides looking to spread some early Christmas cheer among fans as the curtain came down on the Hinrunde.

The potent attack of BVB faced Peter Stöger’s Billy Goats, who had endured a frustrating first half of the season characterized by poor refereeing and bad luck. However, thanks to Simon Zoller and Anthony Modeste, Köln were given an early present in the form of a shock win over Dortmund after coming from behind.

Pre-match build-up

Dortmund came into the game in scintillating form, having comfortably seen off Eintracht Frankfurt the previous weekend in the midst of the best-ever season for a second-placed team in the Bundesliga – Having already amassed 38 points with a +25 goal-difference. Köln, on the other hand, only managed a draw with Werder Bremen in their previous game, and sat comfortably in mid-table after five wins, five losses and six draws.

As mentioned before, BVB’s main strength had been their attack, with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in particular near-unstoppable, notching up 18 goals in his 16 games before the year-ending clash. Incidentally, the only current Bundesliga side against whom Aubameyang had not scored yet was Köln, along with his own club. Were the Billy Goats capable of stopping the yellow machine, spearheaded by the lightning-fast Gabonese star?

BVB take an early lead through Sokratis strike

Köln started the game with a very defensive formation, allowing BVB a lot of possession in the early exchanges of the encounter – With the home side clearly looking to hit Dortmund on the counter once the opportunity presented itself. Matthias Ginter fired off the first shot in anger three minutes in, but failed to test Timo Horn in the Billy Goats’ goal. Horn, interestingly, leads the league in the percentage of shots on goal saved.

Three minutes later, Dortmund’s Aubameyang miss-hit a good opportunity from a loose ball that resulted from a corner, with the subsequent goal-kick allowing Köln their first real foray into the opposition’s half. Die Schwarzgelben were camped out in Köln’s half, but the Billy Goats looked lively whenever the opportunity to break was presented. Their game-plan quickly came undone, though, as Dortmund took the lead after 18 minutes through an excellent Sokratis header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner.

More pressure towards the end of the half

Confidence was high for BVB, with Mkhitaryan himself sending a shot from outside the box just wide minutes later as Köln tried to get some attacking momentum going at the other end.  The home side had two great opportunities to pull one back after Dortmund lost the ball cheaply in midfield, but nobody was able to make contact with Marcel Risse’s ball into the box on two near-identical occasions.

On the half-hour mark, BVB goalkeeper Roman Bürki was forced into a sharp save from a Frederik Sorensen header, as the visitors continued to look shaky defensively after having taken the lead. However, Julian Weigl soon sent a rasping shot just past Horn’s post, once again reiterating the fact that there is no room for complacency against Die Schwarzgelben.

At half-time, BVB had predictably caused a lot of problems in attack, but did look vulnerable defensively at times – Hinting that Köln were still very much in the game despite seeing their gameplan going out of the window early on.

BVB celebrate their opener - it wouldn't be a happy ending, however. (Image credit: kicker - Getty Images)
BVB celebrate their opener - it wouldn't be a happy ending, however. (Image credit: kicker - Getty Images)

Half-time changes seemed to solidify the defence

At the start of the second period, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel brought Marcel Schmelzer and Sven Bender on for Joo-Ho Park and Mats Hummels, with Park having allowed the opposition a lot of space in the first period. However, Köln still seized the early ascendency in the second 45 with a loose ball falling to Dusan Svento in the box, but he was unable to get the shot on target with the ball going narrowly wide of Bürki’s goal.

After 55 minutes Shinji Kagawa had Dortmund’s first shot of the second-half, but his header went wide with Ilkay Gündogan possibly having been in a better position to score had the Japanese international left the ball to him. Three minutes later, though, Gündogan did get the opportunity to take a shot, but a slight miss-hit from outside the box meant that Horn was not troubled.

Just as Dortmund seemed to have settled into control of the game, Köln mounted an attack, putting the pressure back on the BVB defence as Simon Zoller pounced on a poor clearance before seeing his shot deflected over the bar. At the other end, Jonas Hofmann made a good run to create some space in the Köln box, but the finishing touch was denied by an assertive Sorensen block.

Home side go after an equaliser

The Billy Goats made their intent clear as Peter Stöger brought on Leonardo Bittencourt for Svento and Anthony Modeste for Pavel Olkowski in the 70th minute, looking to grab an equalizer in the last 20 minutes. Dortmund also made an attacking change soon after, as Adrian Ramos replaced Hofmann. Aubameyang nearly had the ideal opportunity to keep his great scoring form going, with Mkhitaryan’s superb ball in turned behind by Maroh before it could reach the lurking striker.

However, the home side continued to give as good as they got, with Yannick Gerhardt mere inches away from drawing Köln level from outside the box after striking the post.  They were finally rewarded in the 82nd minute, as an awful mistake by Bürki allowed Zoller to pick up the loose ball and fire into the net – And, in the process, end Köln’s run of 500 minutes without a goal.

A dramatic finish

Things were about to get even worse for Die Schwarzgelben, as substitute Modeste latched onto a great ball from after some more lax Dortmund defending to slot home a dramatic winner and end his scoring drought. Mergim Mavraj was brought on in the 90th minute by Stöger for Zoller to see out the game – With Köln having deservedly turned it all around.

Dortmund have nobody else than themselves to blame for a disappointing loss, with some atrocious defending at the heart of it all. The Hinrunde ends in anticlimactic fashion for them, while Köln can celebrate a massive confidence booster that surely serves as a most welcome early Christmas present. Safely in mid-table, there is a solid foundation to build upon for the Rückrunde.

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About the author
Marco Conradie
Fußball, Football or Soccer, call it what you want, I love it. A thinker of thoughts and writer of words, I dabble in the obscure recesses of German football history at times simply out of pure fascination. The Bundesliga is my passion, and there is nothing better than the beautiful game.