Hoffenheim keep pace at the top

Match report

1899 Hoffenheim destroyed 1. FC Köln at the RheinEnergieStadion with a convincing performance that left the home side ruing their poorest performance of the season so far.

It took just five minutes for 1899 to open the scoring, Carlos Eduardo firing a fierce left-foot drive low into the bottom right-hand corner. Desperate to bring to an end their record of losing every match in which they had gone behind this term, Köln ventured forward in search of an equaliser but were punished once again six minutes later when Chinedu Obasi rose above Miso Brecko to nod home a Christian Eichner cross from the left.

Firmly in control of the match, Hoffenheim were able to enjoy themselves with little in the way of a reply for the hosts. Both Eduardo and Obasi again went close midway through the half, before Fabrice Ehret was forced to clear a Josip Simunic header off the line on the half-hour mark. Zvonimir Soldo's charges were fortunate to go in just 2-0 down at the break but duly conceded once again shortly after the restart. Carlos Eduardo played in Ivorian striker Demba Ba, who raced through before calmly slotting home a third for Ralf Rangnick's side.

With the tie now settled, Köln's misery was compounded late on as a dubious penalty decision went Hoffenheim's way. Though it appeared Pedro Geromel's tug on Vedad Ibisevic was outside the box, the referee pointed to the spot and Ibisevic himself stepped up to fire home and complete an excellent afternoon's work for the visitors.

Quotes

Kevin Pezzoni
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Everyone was playing for themselves and we didn't look like a team at all. In the first half hour we gave away plenty of chances but then we started to improve. The goal shortly after the break sewed it up for them, though.

Marvin Compper
We deserved the win today. We've put in a few decent performances like that only to go on and make a mistake or switch off in the second half. We've learnt from those mistakes now though and things went well for us today.

Timo Hildebrand
We went 2-0 up in no time and that gave us the courage we needed. We didn't want to experience another second half like the one against Wolfsburg, so it was important for us to score quickly after the break.

Carlos Eduardo
The call-up to the national squad gave me a lot of confidence. For the last four or five matches I've been playing very consistently and I've been very happy with my development here at Hoffenheim.

Miso Brecko
There was no communication out on the pitch. Everyone seemed to be in it for themselves.

Zvonimir Soldo
I have to apologise for my team's performance. It was always going to be difficult to come back from 3-0 down. Whenever it seems we've made a step forward, we always take one back. I'm disappointed, but I'm the manager and I have to take responsibility for the team. We'll work on the problems during the week and there will be several discussions.

Ralf Rangnick
We remained focussed throughout the 90 minutes. Obviously it was difficult for Köln after they went 2-0 down, but we should have scored a third earlier on. We played well, managing to mix our game with the right amount of aggression. It's not the first time that we've been able to build on an early lead and if we can just up our determination slightly then that would be perfect.

 

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