Bundesliga
Cologne took the Rhine derby spoils thanks to a 4-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday with the help of two goals in two minutes from Mark Uth and Ondrej Duda late in the second half.
Cologne 4-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 1-0 Ljubicic 55' (assist: Schmitz), 1-1 Hofmann 74' (assist: Herrmann), 2-1 Uth (77'), 3-1 Duda (78'), 4-1 Andersson 90+2' (assist: Schaub)
Duda had the first shot on target when he swivelled on the edge of the area, and there were plenty of strong challenges early on before in-form Gladbach attacker Jonas Hofmann gave Marvin Schwäbe work to do after cutting in from the left. Anthony Modeste recovered from a knock to start this game, and the Cologne striker got his first chance midway through the half. His shot on the turn from just inside the box lacked the power to trouble Yann Sommer. Duda was next to force a relatively comfortable save from the Swiss stopper when he was teed up on the edge of the area, before Modeste almost got his ninth goal of the campaign. The French striker connected with a header from five yards out when a corner was flicked on, but Sommer reacted sharply to push the ball over with his right hand. The home side were dominant at that stage, but late in the half the visitors came to life in attack. First Patrick Herrmann forced Schwäbe to claw the ball over the bar, and then a vicious long-range hit from Denis Zakaria swerved a shade too much and kissed the outside of the post.
The game continued at the same frantic pace in the second half, and 10 minutes in the home fans had reason to become even louder. After patient probing down the left, Benno Schmitz cleverly prodded a loose ball back to Dejan Lubicic, and the Austrian calmly found the far corner from 15 yards out. Gladbach almost got level on 62 minutes but a fantastic strike from Alassane Plea cracked back off the post, and Modeste then found the side net as Cologne swiftly threatened again. Hofmann wasted a great chance on the counter by firing wide of the right post before Joe Scally set up Plea who saw his close-range effort stopped by Schwäbe. Hofmann would make amends for his earlier miss, however, working a one-two with Herrmann on the right before drilling home for 1-1. The Foals, though, were level for only three minutes. Two substitutes combined as Florian Neuhaus of Gladbach passed the ball straight to Uth. The Billy Goats' attacker wasted little time before rifling a shot from outside the area in off the post. The celebrations were still ongoing in the stands when Cologne forged further in front. Duda pounced on a loose ball seven yards out and his shot packed too much power for Sommer. The Gladbach keeper then made a stunning save from a Sebastian Andersson header to keep the visitors in the contest, but when Plea found the net only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, they knew it wasn't to be their day. Andersson rubbed further salt in the wounds when the Swedish substitute stooped to power home a header in injury-time.
Cologne: Schwäbe - Schmitz, Kilian, Czichos, Hector (c) (Schindler 51') - Skhiri, Özcan - Kainz (Uth 70'), Ljubicic (Schaub 82'), Duda (Thielmann 82')- Modeste (Andersson 70')
Unused subs: Urbig, Hübers, Ehizibue, Mere Perez
Out: T. Horn (knee)
Coach: Steffen Baumgart
Gladbach: Sommer - Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini - Herrmann (Lainer 81'), Zakaria, Kone (Neuhaus 66'), Scally (Netz 81') - Hofmann, Stindl (c) (Thuram 66') - Plea
Unused subs: Sippel, Wolfs, Benes, Müsel, Noß
Out: Beyer (thigh), Doucoure (Achilles), Embolo (hamstring), Jantschke (facial fracture), Kramer (thigh)
Coach: Adi Hütter