Result: Werder Bremen 1-1 FC Koln
Date: 06 November 2020
Venue: Weserstadion
FC Koln's winless start to the Bundesliga season continued with a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen on Friday evening.
Josh Sargent continued up top for Bremen and was joined by the returning Milot Rashica and Leonardo Bittencourt.
Bremen's intentions were set clear as early as the opening minute of the contest with Jean-Manuel Mbom firing in from the centre of the area, but Koln goalkeeper Timo Horn saved.
The visitors began bombing forward midway through the first half and carved a few openings, with Ondrej Duda going closest with a looping effort outside the area.
Bremen regained momentum thereafter and threatened the breakthrough from a header by Omer Toprak following a ball from Bittencourt, but the attempt strayed wide.
An early casualty for the visiting side saw Horn pulling up with a troubling injury five minutes to halftime and was replaced by Ron-Robert Zieler in-between the sticks.
The tentative spell from the first half looked to play out early in the second half before Sargent landed onto a probing ball through the middle for a shot, but Zieler saved, while Koln got their first chance of the second period right on 61 minutes when a header from Sebastian Andersson forced Jiri Pavlenka into a fine save.
The visitors went ahead seven minutes later after a dangerous free-kick to the back-post from Duda found Niklas Moisander, who unfortunately fired into his own net.
Bremen reclaimed confidence in the closing minutes despite falling behind, and levelled matters with eight minutes to go from the penalty spot through Rashica following a foul on on-loan Manchester United winger Tahith Chong.
Both sides pushed for the winner in the latter stages of the second half, but in the end settled for a point apiece as Koln's search for a first win this campaign continues.
