Late Drama in Cologne as FC Köln, Leverkusen Share the Spoils in Four-Goal Thriller
COLOGNE — On a raw, blustery autumn night at the Franz-Kremer Stadion, where the swirling wind felt as unpredictable as this young Frauen Bundesliga season, FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen delivered a contest that bristled with intensity, culminated in controversy, and ultimately provided a 2-2 draw that left both sides contemplating what might have been.
For the hosts, the result marked both a show of resilience and a wrenching case of opportunity lost. Köln, mired in 10th place but buoyed by two recent league wins, seemed on course for an upset against a Leverkusen club sitting comfortably inside the top four. Yet, as the rain threatened and the minutes ticked toward full-time, what once looked like a cathartic victory melted away under the weight of Leverkusen’s late surge.
The match opened at a cautious tempo, both sides mindful of the swirling conditions and what was at stake. Leverkusen, fresh from an emphatic 2-0 win at Hoffenheim that extended their winning streak to four, were the more assertive in possession, but it was Köln who fashioned the first genuine chance of note. L. Feiersinger, whose steady presence in midfield has underpinned much of Köln’s early-season promise, went close from distance in the 12th minute, her low drive skidding just wide as Leverkusen’s back line scrambled to regain shape.
The breakthrough, however, would wait until after halftime—and it came with a shot of controversy. Barely three minutes into the second half, Köln midfielder Leonarda Feiersinger drove at the Leverkusen penalty area and, under pressure, went tumbling after a clumsy challenge. The referee did not hesitate, pointing to the spot amid howls from the visiting bench. Stepping up with conviction, Feiersinger rifled her penalty into the top corner for her first league goal of the season and a 1-0 Köln lead, to the delight of the home faithful who had braved the chill.
From there, Köln grew in confidence. Their recent run—a pair of hard-fought league victories over Union Berlin and SGS Essen, sandwiched around a cup demolition of Warbeyen—seemed to lend the side a new steel. Sandra Jessen, vital all autumn, pressed Leverkusen high while Charlotte Imping and the back line repelled repeated efforts from a Leverkusen attack that, for all its pedigree, looked short of ideas as the hour approached.
Yet Leverkusen had not ascended the table by accident, and with the match tilting toward desperation, they found a way back. In the 76th minute, a rare lapse from Köln’s defense saw substitute K. Piljić slip behind her marker before tumbling in the area; the referee, unswayed by the home crowd’s protest, again signaled for a penalty. Vanessa Fudalla, already among the league’s top scorers and fresh off a brace against Eintracht Frankfurt, coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to level the match.
The momentum having turned, Leverkusen pressed with renewed vigor. Fudalla continued to menace the Köln back four, and it was her probing run in the dying minutes that unlocked the hosts’ defense once more. Gathering the ball near the top of the box, Fudalla slid it wide to Piljić, who, with time and space, lashed a low shot into the net with just two minutes left in regulation—seemingly snatching all three points and underscoring Leverkusen’s ruthless late-match resolve.
But the night still had one twist left. As Köln poured forward in stoppage time, desperate to salvage something, they won a speculative free kick deep in Leverkusen’s half. Feiersinger, again at the heart of everything for Köln, whipped the ball into the mixer, where a scramble ensued. With bodies on the deck and the ball pinging around the six-yard box, the referee spotted a handball—penalty. Feiersinger converted with nerveless precision, her second spot-kick of the evening, sending the home crowd into raucous celebration as the final whistle sounded.
A draw, then, that simultaneously felt like victory and defeat for both sides. For Leverkusen, the late comeback preserved their unbeaten league run and steadied their position in the top four, but the manner of the dropped points—so close to a fifth consecutive league win—will sting as they chase Champions League qualification. Fudalla, who continues to track the league’s top scorers, remains a talisman, but even her efforts could not deliver the full spoils.
For Köln, the fightback against a side with the historical upper hand—Leverkusen had won their last three head-to-heads, including a pair of shutouts last season—signals growth and tenacity, even as defensive fragility persists. At 10th in the table, survival remains the order of the day, but the belief that comes from standing toe-to-toe with the league’s best offers a flicker of hope as the campaign approaches its tough autumn grind.
The schedule grows no kinder: Köln visit league leaders Bayern Munich next, a daunting proposition, while Leverkusen host a surging Carl Zeiss Jena. For both clubs, this frenetic draw offers lessons—and, perhaps, the kind of emotional jolt that can define a season’s narrative.