FC Köln 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach: El Mala seals win, Gladbach stay bottom
FC Köln beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 at the RheinEnergieStadion thanks to goals from Jóhannesson and El Mala, despite Scally's equaliser.
- Jóhannesson puts Köln ahead in the 26th minute, Scally equalises in the 39th
- El Mala scores the winning goal in the 66th minute
- Borussia Mönchengladbach remain bottom with 0 points after 4 games
FC Köln 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Scorers: Jóhannesson 26', Scally 39', El Mala 66'
Kick-off: 14:30 UK time / 15:30 CEST, RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne.
The match
Köln started on the front foot, with Marius Bülter booked in the 13th minute. Twelve minutes later, Jan Leszczyński was also shown a yellow card for Mönchengladbach.
Köln took the lead a minute after that, in the 26th minute, when Ísak Jóhannesson made it 1-0.
Mönchengladbach responded before the break, equalising through Joe Scally in the 39th minute to send the sides in level at 1-1.
At the start of the second half, Köln brought on Tom Krauß for Ellyes Skhiri. Mönchengladbach followed with a double change between the 64th and 68th minutes, introducing Wael Mohya for Robin Hack and Zento Uno for Florian Neuhaus.
Köln struck again in the 66th minute, with Saïd El Mala scoring what proved to be the winning goal, making it 2-1.
Late on, both sides completed their changes. Köln used Jan Thielmann, Imad Rondic and Luca Waldschmidt from the bench, while Mönchengladbach brought on Fabio Chiarodia and Fritz Fleck. Zento Uno was booked in the 81st minute, and Shuto Machino received a yellow card deep into stoppage time, in the 90+7th minute.
The numbers
Köln had 20 shots to Mönchengladbach's 16, with both sides managing 7 shots on target. The visitors had more of the ball (52% to 48%) but committed more fouls (17 to 8) and picked up more bookings (3 to 1). Corners were even at 6 apiece.
Table and next fixtures
FC Köln move up to 4 points from 4 games (1 win, 1 draw, 2 defeats, 6 goals scored, 9 conceded), sitting 14th. Borussia Mönchengladbach remain on 0 points after 4 games, all lost, with 6 goals scored and 16 conceded, bottom of the 18-team table.
Borussia Dortmund lead the way with 13 points, ahead of Bayern München (11), SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen (both on 10).
Next up, FC Köln travel to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, 16 October at 20:30 CEST. Borussia Mönchengladbach host TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday, 18 October at 17:30 CEST.