Despite the best efforts of both sides neither were able to bring in all three points on a chilly evening, as Köln and Darmstadt drew blanks.
Billy Goats dominate the opening half
Darmstadt came closest to a breakthrough early on, as a long ball forward found Sandro Wagner and he flicked on to Jan Rosenthal. The attacker took a touch to set himself before he screamed a volley just inches past the post, with Timo Horn well beaten.
The Billy Goats mustered up a chance of themselves not long later. After Leonardo Bittencourt broke away from his marker on the left, he cut inside and a few passes later found Marcel Risse. The right-back managed to get some space and sent a powerful effort towards goal, though the ball went skimming across the face of goal.
Risse and Bittencourt combined again to move up the pitch to great effect, with the former racing down the right before whipping in a great ball towards Bittencourt. Instead of shooting, the former Hannover winger cleverly set the ball back to Yannick Gerhardt but he shot wildly over from 10 yards. Mathias Lehmann came similarly close from 25 yards out, in what was the final action of the half.
Both sides struggle to create a clear-cut chance
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, and Risse continued to be a menace going forwards. It was his clever pass that found Milos Jojic heading into the box, and the Serbian controlled brilliantly before rounding Aytac Sulu and firing wide; another excellent chance was passed up.
The final opportunity of the match came to the hosts, and they almost won it at the death. Tobias Kempe's free-kick ability won Darmstadt promotion to the Bundesliga and another dead ball attempt went just over the bar, much to the relief of Horn. Both sides, unfortunately, couldn't quite find the necessary finishing prowess.