Player Ratings | 1.FC Köln 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

The first Rhein derby of the season proved to be all about 1.FC Köln as Borussia Mönchengladbach decided not to turn up for one of their marquee games of the season. 

Köln dominated the first half with Gladbach not able to even get a sniff of the goal. The opening goal came from a Florian Kainz penalty after the ball hit Manu Koné’s hand just inside the penalty box. If it was not for Moritz Nicolas in the Gladbach goal, then Köln would of taken an even bigger lead into halftime. 

The second half once again saw Köln dominate but Gladbach were able to grab a goal back from a Nico Elvedi header with their first shot on target of the whole game. However, Koné would be sent off for a challenge that was originally deemed a red before VAR overturned the decision. Minutes later, Nicolas would collide with Luca Waldschmidt to give Köln another penalty, which had to be retaken and eventually converted by Kainz once again. Köln would secure the win with a fine finish from Waldschmidt.

The win sees Köln climb from the bottom of the table to 16th with their first win of the season. 

 1.FC Köln: 

Marvin Schwäbe – 5 – The first shot on target he faced, the ball went in. Although the defence and midfield did the majority of the work, when he was called up, Schwäbe was rather unreliable. 

Rasmus Carstensen – 6

Timo Hubers – 6

Julian Chabot – 6

Leart Paqarada – 6

Dejan Ljubicic – 6

Eric Martel – 6

Linton Maina – 6

Luca Waldschmidt – 7

Florian Kainz – 8 – Scorer of two penalties for Köln, was lucky that the second penalty had to be taken after originally producing one of the worst penalties of this season, which was saved by Nicolas. Away from the spot, the Austrian was still crucial in their attacks and if it were not Nicolas’s goalkeeping could have ended up with a few assists. 

Davie Selke – 5

Others: Luca Kilian (5), Steffen Tigges (-), Denis Huseinbasic (-) 

Borussia Mönchengladbach:

Moritz Nicolas – 7 – If it were not for Nicolas, the score line would have been a lot worse than it appeared. Several times, especially in the first half the 25-year-old made key saves to keep Gladbach in the game. 

Nico Elvedi – 5

Marvin Friedrich – 4

Maximilian Wöber – 5

Franck Honorat – 4 – Ineffective on the wing and in the centre. Gerardo Seaone’s decision to play Honorat as a wing-back continues to be questionable when he is better as a winger. Although he provided an assist from a corner in the second half, his impact on the game was minimal. 

Florian Neuhaus – 5

Julian Weigl – 5

Manu Koné – 4 – Was unlucky to give away the first penalty so early in the first half. While the yellow which was overturned into red was debatable. What is clear is that Koné is a long way off the player that he was last season and he still needs a run of games to regain his confidence and form.

Luca Netz – 4

Tomas Cvancara – 5

Alassane Plea – 5

Others: Rocco Reitz (5), Joe Scally (5), Nathan Ngoumou (5), Robin Hack (5), Jordan (5)

GGFN | Jack Meenan