The day's evening kick-off came from the Signal Iduna Park, as Borussia Dortmund hosted 1. FC Köln in a mid-table battle for three points. Jurgen Klopp's men had started to pick up steam after a rather disappointing first few months in the league, where they were constantly hovering around the relegation places, but ahead of kick-off, they were just twelve points off the last automatic UEFA Champions League qualification spot for next year, currently being held by 3rd placed Bayer Leverkusen.

Only a point separated the two sides before the referee's first whistle, and it promised to be an intriguing watch in-front of a rather imposing Dortmund crowd (picture, below).

Dortmund's experienced goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was forced into action with two fast-paced breaks in the space of a few minutes, first the German rushed off his line to clear the danger from Deyverson before Anthony Ujah's effort on-goal was saved by the under-fire 'keeper, who has conceded six goals in the past five matches and has looked admittedly off-the-pace in recent weeks.

After that early spell of pressure, there were few and far chances in between before half-time. Dortmund's star man Marco Reus was kept relatively quiet by the Köln defenders on the flank, the hosts' top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a half-chance headed effort which was wide of the mark and otherwise, it was a rather level playing field.

At the half-time interval, the scores were still level at 0-0. After the break, no substitutions were made by either side. Deyverson had arguably the best goal-scoring opportunity of the game in the 52nd minute, weaving his way past his marker on the edge of the box before his effort flashed over Weidenfeller's crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Klopp opted for a double substitution. Mkhitaryan and Kagawa were replaced by Blaszcykowski and Kampl respectively, as the hosts looked for the opening goal in an attacking change to freshen up their forward options. Aubameyang was in the wrong place at the wrong time, receiving a yellow card in the process from the referee in the 71st minute after a deliberate handball as the Gabon forward looked to latch onto a dangerous cross that was whipped into the box, but blocked the ball's path inside the area.

Aubameyang was then replaced by Italian striker Ciro Immobile with 14 minutes left plus stoppages to play, in Dortmund's last sub of the game. Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer both had efforts on-goal saved by Timo Horn in the Köln goal in the latter stages, before the visitors started to crank up the pressure with a few minutes left to play. Meanwhile, Risse and Peszko were both subbed off for Brecko and Svento for the visitors.

A goalmouth scramble in the 87th minute was cleared well away by the Dortmund defenders, who simply knew they could not afford to concede late on and miss out on crucial points. As the fourth official signalled for two minutes of stoppage time to be played on his electronic board, the clock ticked down and it looked likely that the scoreline would remain the same, a goal-less draw. The full-time whistle blew, and that was it. 0-0, the final score.

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About the author
Mosope Ominiyi
Writer and editor - European football analyst, youth enthusiast. Email: [email protected]