VfL Wolfsburg spoiled the party as 1. FC Köln - and coach Christoph Daum - made their return to the top flight.
The “Wolves” overturned a first-half strike by Milivoje Novakovic (20.) to win 2-1 with goals from Christian Gentner (48.) and summer signing Zvjezdan Misimovic (78.). For Daum, in particular, the comeback has been a long time coming. His last dug-out appearance in the Bundesliga was back in October 2000 at Bayer Leverkusen.
Guests go in front
Cologne were for the most part content to sit back and soak up everything the home side coud throw at them, with Novakovic clinically dispatching the one real opportunity they created in the first half.
For their part, with Grafite suspended and Edin Dzeko injured, Wolfsburg were labouring from the off up front against a compact Cologne defence. Coach Felix Magath's decision to bring on striker Mahir Saglik for the second half changed the tone of the game however. Just three minutes in, Gentner knocked in a rebound to square the contest.
“Wolves” up the pace
That was the signal for the hosts to further up the pressure, with Saglik (50.), Gentner (55.) and Saglik again missing chances to put them in front.
The winner, when it came, was by this point overdue. With 12 minutes of regulation time remaining, Misimovic outfoxed Cologne keeper Farid Mondragon with a near-post finish, and the points were in the bag for VfL.
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