Alidou leads Köln to huge upset win against parent club Eintracht

SGE trainer Toppmöller made two changes to the side that only just scraped past Mainz last Friday night. Hrvoje Smolcic replaced Willian Pacho in defense. The Ecuadorian had to sit out the match due to accumulated yellow suspension. Midfield linchpin Ellyes Skhiri also received his first start since returning from international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations. Skhiri took Donny van de Beek’s place in the squad. The German Eagles re-formatted from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1. Timo Schulz went with the exact same team that drew Wolfsburg 1-1 last week.

Very little transpired during what was an extremely poor first half from both sides at the RheinEnergieStadion. Köln keeper Marvin Schwäbe only had to intervene once in the 40th when Skhiri got a decent effort on target in. Otherwise, neither team produced any scoring chances worthy of a highlight reel. The level of play didn’t improve terribly much after the restart, though Skhiri’s fellow returning North African AFCON representative Fares Chaibi did see a goal disallowed for offside in the 58th.

The game got turned on its head when Eintracht defender Niels Nkounkou – already on a yellow card – committed a highly egregious foul on Köln attacker (and Frankfurt loan-out) Faride Alidou in the 66th. Nkounkou saw his second yellow on what absolutely could have been a straight red. Alidou – who also netted his first Bundesliga goal last week against Wolfsburg – then skillfully redirected the ball into the back of the net from close range on the ensuing free kick moments later. Dejan Ljubicic initially sent the effort goal wards.

Ljubicic then earned a second assist on Jan Thielmann’s 2-0 in the 80th. Matters got worse for Frankfurt when defender Tuta become the second player to exit the match on double yellows in the 83rd. Nine-man Frankfurt obviously had no hope of coming back after that. Thielmann – who has been forced to serve as a diminutive makeshift striker – also scored registered his first goal of the season. The entire Effzeh side spent a great deal of time celebrating in front of their loyal Südkurve after the full-time whistle.