Early problems, but Bayern see off Köln to ease into DFB-Pokal next round | OneFootball

On Wednesday evening, FC Bayern Munich had the away task in Cologne in the DFB-Pokal. The record champions already knew in advance that they would face a team that, after promotion and a good start to the season, would enter the game with confidence. 

Accordingly, no one at FCB expected an easy task. A knockout match, especially under floodlights in a special atmosphere in Cologne, is always something special. Bayern went into the duel with several changes compared to the weekend, including Josip Stanisic celebrating his starting eleven comeback after more than a month off.

Cologne starts strong, but Bayern finds the answer

The game began with an impressive choreography by the home fans. It took seven minutes for the first dangerous attempt, but Luis Diaz was a bit too surprised by an Olise cross, and Ron-Robert Zieler had no trouble with the header. In the eleventh minute, the Cologne team forced Jonas Urbig into a first very good save, but the FCB keeper was on hand.

After a quarter of an hour, Urbig had to intervene again. On the opposite side, Luis Diaz and Harry Kane had a double chance after just under 20 minutes. The Englishman was now turning up, and two minutes later he almost scored the lead for Bayern. After 25 minutes, Urbig saved a Kaminski shot from close range. Cologne really tested FC Bayern. After a corner in the 31st minute, Ragnar Ache headed the lead for Effzeh. But it didn't take long for a reaction. A Stanisic shot could only be parried, and Diaz tapped in for the 1-1. He was offside, but there is no VAR here.

Shortly after the equalizer, Harry Kane scored a remarkable goal from a turn and a tight angle to make it 2-1 for Bayern! With this result, they went into the break.

Photo: Getty Images

Bayern decides the match in Cologne

In the 53rd minute, Diaz ran completely alone towards Zieler, had plenty of time to decide where to place the ball in the goal, but shot over. That was the huge chance for 3-1. The first good chance for Cologne in the second half came from Eric Martel (56th minute). About ten minutes after this action, Kane headed in the third goal for the guests from Munich after a corner. After 71 minutes, Michael Olise, well served by Diaz, sealed the deal and scored to make it 4-1.

Afterwards, the game slowly wound down, with FC Bayern now in control, and not much happened in front of the goals. And so it remained 4-1 for the record champions, which was absolutely deserved in the end.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.