FC Köln victorious with late goal

FC Köln claimed an important three points with 2-1 victory over VfL Bochum with the deciding goal by Manasseh Ishiaku at the eighty-seventh minute. The buoyant victory before the brings Christoph Daum's die Geißböcke to mid-table before the break with twenty-two points.

After a well structured half in which both sides committed to defending and didn't allow a reasonable scoring chance Köln took the lead as Mišo Brečko's free-kick was headed in by Canadian international Kevin McKenna. Prior to that the only chance to break onto the score-sheet came from a Joel Epalle drive that nearly found the net after an opportunistic bounce. However Epalle's afternoon wasn't over as just before the hour mark his corner was headed-in by Christoph Dabrowski. Bochum looked to be close to adding the go-ahead goal over the next twenty minutes but were stymied in the final phase. Their efforts received a major boost as Pedro Geromel was sent off with seven minutes remaining with his second yellow-card. Fabrice Ehret provided the winning goal with three minutes remaining as he sped down the pitch, finally passing to Manasseh Ishiaku to close-out. Köln's Milivoje Novakovič was excused as the match wound down with his second yellow, this for diving but Bochum's efforts were without result and die Geißböcke earned the victory.