Goal in injury time – horror injury overshadows late BVB victory against Cologne

A seemingly serious knee injury to Timo Hübers overshadowed Borussia Dortmund's last-minute victory against 1. FC Köln. One week after the 2-1 defeat to German record champions FC Bayern, Maximilian Beier scored Saturday evening in the sixth minute of stoppage time to give BVB a 1-0 (0-0) lead against 1. FC Köln. Meanwhile, the visitors are worried about their defensive leader. Timo Hübers had to be stretchered off the pitch in the closing stages, forcing Cologne to play with a man down.

Coach Niko Kovac's team remains close to the top pair from Munich and RB Leipzig in the table and can also approach their difficult DFB Cup match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday (6:30 p.m./Sky and ZDF) with confidence. "A completely terrible evening," said Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schäbe after the defeat in Dortmund. "To see a teammate suffer like that..." he said of Hübers's injury. He also added that it was bitter not to have been rewarded after the great fight in the game.

FC defender Dominique Heintz told Sky about Hüber's injury: "It didn't look good. I'm very sorry for him. You wouldn't wish that on anyone. I hope something can still be salvaged. We'll see what the diagnosis is. We tried to get through it as a team for him. Unfortunately, we were a few seconds short." Cologne's Eric Martel was also shocked: "I looked at it briefly and immediately looked away again. It didn't look good. I hope there isn't too much damage."

A few days after their 4-2 away win against Copenhagen in the Champions League, Dortmund lacked pace and impact for a long time. Although they were dominant in front of 81,365 spectators, they failed to capitalize on their superiority for long stretches until Beier redeemed the home fans. "It's an important win for us," said BVB international Waldemar Anton on Sky after the final whistle. "Apart from a few careless mistakes from us, Cologne didn't have many chances." Beier deserved the goal, he said, having worked hard in the past few weeks.

Sporting director Lars Ricken emphasized in an interview before kickoff that Borussia "doesn't have to hide from anyone." "Our goal is to confidently reach the Champions League places." At least temporarily, BVB climbed to third place.

The cathedral city team once again demonstrated how difficult they can be against a top team. Knowing this, they host Bayern Munich in their second-round clash on Wednesday (8:45 p.m./Sky and ARD).

"But there are always those little moments that can turn games like this around," Lukas Kwasniok explained. And one of those moments, as mentioned by the FC coach, came to the visitors after 19 minutes. The highly talented Saïd El Mala, who has been playing so well recently, eluded the BVB defense after a Cologne player had won the ball, but pushed the ball inches wide of the far post.

Dortmund repeatedly took their time in building up play, dragging the game out. However, when they did try to attack with more force, things became dangerous. Karim Adeyemi did almost everything right after just over half an hour: He beat his opponent Cenk Özkacar with pace, but then couldn't find a way past the onrushing Marvin Schwäbe.

And what about BVB top scorer Serhou Guirassy, ​​who, despite his dry spell, was dubbed a "life insurance policy" by coach Kovac? The attacker has been waiting for a league win since September 13th and struggled against Cologne, too. While he frequently shielded the ball and created opportunities for his teammates with clever layoffs, he just as often wore himself out in one-on-one battles, got stuck, or sailed under crosses from the halfway line.

Shortly after the restart, the striker came very close. Adeyemi passed the ball to Guirassy, ​​who, free in front of goal, was denied by Schwäbe – the hosts' best chance (53').

Dortmund now increased their pace somewhat, and the Cologne keeper immediately had more to do: Schwäbe also raised a hand in time to block an attempt by Felix Nmecha (62'). Borussia continued to try – and, after Hübers's injury and the resulting numerical advantage, scored the winning goal through Beier.