Modeste scores for Cologne in pulsating draw with Freiburg

Freiburg 1-1 Cologne
Goals: 0-1 Modeste (33'), 1-1 Czichos (o.g. 89')
Sent off: Kainz (74')

Both sides were determined to maintain their impressive starts to the season - Cologne’s best since 2016, Freiburg’s best ever - and began the match at full throttle. The opening stages gave both sets of fans moments to hold their breath and hope. The first to celebrate, however, were the visitors. Benno Schmitz sent an excellent cross into the box and Modeste rose to meet it, his header looping just inside the upright - his third goal of the season. Just minutes later, Mark Uth nearly made it 2-0, but he was denied by the upright. Cologne maintained their dominance, but could not produce a second before half-time, leaving Freiburg some hope of getting back into the match.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Freiburg nearly did just that, with Cologne keeper Timo Horn producing some fantastic reactions to hold preserve his clean sheet. While Freiburg were significantly improved after the break, the visitors made it clear that they would not surrender their lead easily. Cologne weathered the storm well, but their task was made more difficult with just under 20 minutes left to play when Florian Kainz collected a second yellow, leaving the Billy Goats down to 10 men. As they clung on to their lead, substitute Ondrej Duda missed a gilt-edged chance to make the result safe for Cologne; the drama would go down to the last kick of the match. Freiburg never gave up and, in the 89th minute, their hard work paid off. Cologne’s Rafael Czichos did his best to block a driven cross, but could only redirect the ball into his own net. The draw was nothing less than Freiburg deserved, and both teams left the pitch satisfied with a point after a hard-fought match.

• This was the first time Freiburg have trailed in a match this Bundesliga season.
• Second half improvement: Freiburg had taken twice as many shots (four) after 20 second-half minutes as they did in the entire first half.
• With eight points from four games, Freiburg have made their best ever start to a Bundesliga season.
• This was the first time Cologne have taken a lead into the half-time break.
• Modeste has now scored six goals in nine meetings with Freiburg.
• Kainz’s sending off was his first of his career in the Bundesliga.

Freiburg: Flekken - Kübler, Lienhart, N. Schlotterbeck, Günter (c) - Sallai (Petersen 72'), Keitel, Eggestein (Haberer 46’), Grifo - Jeong (Schade 72'), Höler (Demirovic 82')
Unused subs: Uphoff, Gulde, Heintz, K. Schlotterbeck, Weißhaupt
Out: Höfler (foot), Schmid (not included)
Coach: Christian Streich 

Cologne: T. Horn - Schmitz, Mere, Czichos (o.g. 89'), Hector (c) - Ljubicic (Ostrak 82') - Uth (Skhiri 62'), Özcan (Lemperle 69'), Kainz – Modeste (33’) (Duda 69'), Andersson (Schaub 82')
Unused subs: Schwäbe, Kilian, Schindler, Ehizibue
Out: J. Horn (hip), Hübers (knee), Thielmann (ill)
Coach: Steffen Baumgart