High and wide

Julian Schieber was the first to shoot on goal on Saturday afternoon for VfB but the attacker’s effort was blocked away for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, Vedad Ibisevic got a shot away but the on form Michael Rensing got down to grasp the ball and avert the danger. It took until the 20^th minute before the next real chance could be created, but Serdar Tasci’s header from a Tamas Hajnal corner went well over the crossbar. As the game progressed, the home side began to take more control and marshalled the midfield, cutting down the space for Hajnal, Christian Gentner & Co. In the 27^th minute, Köln had their first chance on goal with a Christian Clemens shot which proved off target. Seconds later, Lukas Podolski got a header in from a Sascha Riether delivery but Sven Ulreich was well placed to deal with the danger. There was to be no further action in the first half and the sides went in at the break locked in stalemate.

Labbadia reacts with Cacau

After the re-start, the spectators at the RheinEnergieStadium were treated to a similar picture in the first five minutes as they had been towards the end of the first half, with Köln pressing for an opening goal and VfB merely looking on. In the 49^th minute, Sven Ulreich made a stunning stop to deny Clemens, but minutes later, the VfB keeper could do nothing to prevent his side falling behind. Pouncing on a Serdar Tasci loss of possession, Podolski played a one-two with Mato Jajalo and then played square for Slawomir Peszko to slot home – 1-0 for FC! On the hour mark, Bruno Labbadia reacted and introduced Cacau in place of Schieber. The German international had his side’s best chance of the game to that point soon after his introduction, but with only Rensing to beat, Cacau failed to finish.