Raum: "These are the gruelling, great victories"

Stefan Posch: "We had a lot of chances, so it was surprising to me that I scored the decisive goal. That was a great feeling. We work on set pieces in training, and I do a lot of heading training – that's been rewarded today. It was a great cross from David Raum. I managed to hang in the air well and it was an important goal. I am very pleased that I scored, but in the end, only the victory as a team is what counts. It was a victory of struggle and passion, a victory that took a strong mentality. It really wasn't easy. Cologne were pushing at the end, but we held our ground. The season is a marathon, and we are only looking from game to game, but of course we want to stay up there and are looking forward to Bayern now."

David Raum: "That was a deserved victory – we could have scored even more goals. But one more goal [than the opposition] is enough to get the win. We decided to play short free kicks so we could get a bit of movement going in the box. My cross wasn't bad, but Poschi gets in, does brilliantly and powers in an unstoppable header – a great goal. In an atmosphere like that, you have to work for everything, but we got into the game quickly right from the start and we made the stadium quiet early on. We are glad to have come away with all three points. If you want to challenge at the top of the table, you have to win these games. These are the gruelling, great victories that you really enjoy."

Christoph Baumgartner: "We are very happy to get the three points – you can't get more than that from a game. We achieved our goal, but it was a tough fight. Cologne also got into some good situations, but that is quite normal in such an atmosphere and with two giants upfront. All in all, however, we defended well and the only thing you could say we did wrong is that we didn't wrap the game up earlier."

Sebastian Hoeness: "We had respect for them going into the game. Cologne make it difficult for any opponent due to their intense style of play. But we got stuck into the game very well. We were at it right from the start. We created a lot of great chances, but unfortunately, we went into the dressing room at 0-0. Unfortunately, we didn't score another after the first goal. Then it gets tense again, and that was not how we wanted it to be. The lads survived it thanks to their passion and a little bit of luck. It was hard work, as expected."

Steffen Baumgart (1. FC Cologne coach): "It was a very intense game. The boys gave it their all, even if we didn't always do everything right. In my opinion, 1-1 would not have been undeserved. We will take a good performance away from the game, but we are certainly going home a little disappointed."

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