Köln and Union Berlin share spoils to amble to Bundesliga safety
Köln and Union Berlin share spoils to amble to Bundesliga safety In the first minutes, Union applied some pressure through Oliver Burke's cross to Ilyas Ansah but Köln were able to deal through Simpson-Pusey. The game, however, started off quietly with both sides not giving too much space or risk to the other team. Köln countered well with Luca Waldschmidt in the 13th minute and won a corner after the ball was taken off Köln winger Kaminski out of the field with a clearance.
Union's Kemlein had a golden opportunity in the 24th minute but clipped the post and missed following a Marvin Schwäbe Köln error. In the 31st minute, Ansah just missed the target following a pass from Oliver Burke. During the 33rd minute, Köln striker Marius Bülter made it 0-1 for the away side after an assist from the new starter today Luca Waldschmidt.
Union Berlin prohibited the away side from doubling their lead after a last-ditch challenge from Union's Diogo Leite in defence despite the goalkeeper being beaten. The first half ended 0-1 to Köln thanks to the Marius Bülter outside of the box wonder goal. Shortly after half time, Jakub Kaminski nearly doubled the away side's lead after an El Mala pass but only just managed to get a shot off whilst falling and the effort missed the target.
Köln kept on applying pressure in the 20 minutes after the break mostly through counter attacks when Union Berlin pushed too far forward. During the 61st minute, Köln youngster El Mala made it his 12th goal of the Bundesliga season with a goal in the corner to make it 2-0 to the away team with a top finish in the box. Union Berlin tried to take back control of the game with a goal following the triple substitution of Jan Thielmann, Niang and Linton Maina in for Marius Bülter, Said El Mala and Jakub Kaminski.
In the 74th minute, this brought about some luck as Christopher Trimmel's corner was put in by Tom Rothe to make it 1-2. After a wave of Union Berlin pressure, Linton Maina's shot for Köln was saved by Union's keeper Carl Klaus behind for a corner in the 85th minute. In the 89th minute, Burcu hit the equaliser late on to make it 2-2 for Union Berlin.