Five-star Waldschmidt leads Köln to nine-goal blowout in Essen | OneFootball

1. FC Köln made their way north to Essen to face fifth-tier side Schwarz-Weiß Essen at the Uhlenkrugstadion, in their only friendly match of the September international break.

Köln entered this match with momentum, coming off a 4-1 victory against SC Freiburg over the weekend and currently 2-0-0, third in the Bundesliga with FC Bayern München and Eintracht Frankfurt being the only other unbeaten teams. As for Schwarz-Weiß Essen, they are 1-1-1 in the Oberliga Niederrhein, having defeated SV Sonsbeck by a 2-1 result for their first win of the season this past Friday.

The hosts managed to keep the match scoreless until the twenty-second minute, but that is when everything began to fall apart, as Alessio Castro-Montes' ground pass from the right side of the Schwarz-Weiß penalty area met the right boot of Luca Waldschmidt; the 29-year-old German forward would easily tap the ball into the bottom-centre to give Köln the opener.

Waldschmidt would add another two in the first half to complete the hat-trick, with Denis Huseinbašić sending a long-range shot into the left side of the net in-between Waldschmidt's second and third. Ragnar Ache would score another tap-in following an onside pass from Waldschmidt himself, and the Bundesliga side would be 5-0 ahead by the time that the first half came to an end.

Rotossan Kanu would get Schwarz-Weiß Essen on the scoreboard in the fifty-fourth minute, but despite Waldschmidt's denied penalty in the minutes that followed, Köln continued their scoring rampage. Jan Thielmann would successfully convert another penalty in the seventieth minute, and Ache would follow just forty seconds later, with Waldschmidt assisting following an errant pass from the Essen defence.

Waldschmidt was not done, running onside and receiving a Florian Kainz through ball in the eightieth minute; he would manage to get Alexander Golz charging well out of his net before lifting the ball above the 29-year-old German goalkeeper, into the bottom-right corner. With just two and a half minutes remaining, he would manage to score his fifth of the match, volleying an aerial pass from Sebastian Sebulonsen on the left side of the box and launching an attempt into the same corner.

The final whistle would go shortly after, as Köln finished with a 9-1 victory. Lukas Kwasniok's side will visit the Volkswagen Arena to face VfL Wolfsburg in their next match, with kickoff set for Saturday, 13. September at 15:30 (CET); as for Schwarz-Weiß Essen, they will visit SV Biemenhorst 1926 on Sunday at the Intersport-Pieron-Arena Kunstrasenplatz, with kickoff set for 15:15 (CET).