Meet Beier and Guirassy
©IMAGO
Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 away at 1. FC Köln on Saturday evening. Thanks to goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier, BVB led confidently for a long time before Jakub Kaminski created tension again shortly before the end. The Domstadt team’s situation in the relegation battle worsens with the defeat. The sending off against Cologne’s winter recruit Jahmai Simpson-Pusey in added time of the first half sparked discussion.
With the victory, Dortmund maintained their six-point lead over third-place Hoffenheim. But for Cologne, the situation is becoming more and more threatening after the fifth game without a win in a row. The two-point lead over the relegation region could be completely exhausted on Sunday. In the next matches at Hamburger SV and in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach against direct competitors, points will have to be won – probably also to save Lukas Kwasniok’s job.
After the recent 0-2 disappointment against FC Augsburg, the Cologne leaders supported the coach. However, a few days before the match against BVB, there were reports of an alleged ultimatum, which Kwasniok denied. It was also clear to the 44-year-old that FC urgently needed to win again.
In fact, his team started brightly and, at least initially, had more ball possession than the second-placed team, which seemed to lack tension after the 2-3 defeat in the top-flight match against FC Bayern and the lost championship. BVB certainly struggled throughout the match rather than enjoying the match. Cologne took the match, but Dortmund took the lead. It was the former FC striker Guirassy who took advantage of the collective torpor of the Cologne defense. After a corner, Maximilian Beier returned the ball into the Cologne penalty area, where Guirassy quickly changed gears and used his sole to push the ball past FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe and into the net. It was the striker’s twelfth goal of the season and his seventh in the return series.
After taking the advantage, the Westphalians slowly took control of the match without shining. The Cologne team weakened in stoppage time in the first half. Winter signing Simpson-Pusey kicked Beier brutally in the Achilles tendon from behind and with no chance of recovering the ball. According to the video (Site notre bureau spécialisé)age, referee Daniel Siebert revised the yellow card to the dismay of the Cologne crowd and showed red.
Outnumbered, the Rhinelanders resisted defeat, but were too harmless. Dortmund did no more than necessary to secure the victory. After an hour, Beier played a one-two with Julian Brandt and scored to make it 2-0. Kaminski’s goal made the final minutes even more exciting.