Agency
Ihlas Bebou scored in each half and helped Hoffenheim cruise 5-0 past hapless Cologne at the curtain raiser of the 8th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
Hoffenheim caught a bright start in front of home crowd as Rafael Czichos’ misplaced clearance left unmarked Andrej Kramaric with a presentable chance inside the box. Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn was on guard though and defused the effort from close range in the 8th minute.
Cologne lacked in offensive power whereas the hosts increased the pressure as the game clock ticked. With 31 minutes played Hoffenheim’s efforts paid off as Kramaric danced through Cologne’s territory before sending Bebou, who kept his cool in front of the target and rounded Horn to tap home into the open goal.
The visitors tried to respond but couldn’t find the back of Hoffenheim’s goal in the first 45 minutes.
After the restart, Cologne’s hopes of a comeback suffered a setback as Bebou wrapped up his brace after finishing off a combination via Kevin Akpoguma with the back heel in the 49th minute.
Quickly things went from bad to worse as the hosts made it three only two minutes later when Czichos’ second misplaced pass initiated a Hoffenheim counterattack, which found its successful end with Christoph Baumgartner, who poke home David Raum’s cutback pass.
Hoffenheim ceased it offensive actions with the three-goal lead and kept all its men behind the ball.
Cologne remained offensively harmless while Hoffenheim sparked to life again in the closing stages as Dennis Geiger and Stefan Posch added their names to the scoreboard to inflict the “Billy Goats” a crushing 5-0 defeat on the road.
“We didn’t play as planned and we have to analyse this defeat because it really hurts. We definitely have to learn from this, and we will,” Cologne head coach Steffen Baumgart said.
Hoffenheim return to winning ways and climb on the 8th spot meanwhile Cologne stay on the 6th position of the Bundesliga standings.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Freiburg host Leipzig, third placed Borussia Dortmund face Mainz, Eintracht Frankfurt meet Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg travel to Union Berlin, Greuther Furth encounter Bochum in the bottom clash and Borussia Monchengladbach see Stuttgart.
