Gideon Mensah stars in his debut German Bundesliga game as FC Koln dig-deep to secure a hard fought 3-2 victory against TSG Hoffenheim.
The Ghanaian international had all the spotlights on him as he featured for his new home FC Koln in a very cagey and tight opening fixture.
FC Koln secured their first three points at their home turf RheinEnergie Stadium despite failing to enjoy a chunk possession of the ball – Koln’s directness high-value shot creation inside the box did the magic.
With an Expected-Shot (XG) on target of 3.44, FC Koln’s attack was ruthless and unforgiving as they showed more efficiency in front of goal.
For Hoffenheim, they dominated a large-chunk of the game with a double-pivot midfield spearheaded by Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger’s partnership – who were responsible of working the ball into the wide areas leading to Adam and Daghim’s opener in the 27th minute and Ozan Kabak’s header from Vladimir Coufal cross.
On the other hand, Koln exhibited a mid-block tactical discipline, resorting to quick direct transitions rather than sustained possession hence, presenting Hoffenheim the spaces to put up a dominating performance.
The game changing moment was the introduction of Thijs Dallinga, Linton maina, and Paul Okon-Engstler into the fray – Dallinga’s off the ball movement immediately begun to cause the opposition defense to think while Maina provided dynamic width, serving the precise and accurate cross for Dallinga to register a life-line consolation goal.
Ten minutes later, Dallinga sealed it by turning a corner into the back of the net to complete his 17-minute brace – handing over a 3-2 comeback victory to FC Koln against TSG Hoffenheim.