1. FC Köln continued their impressive start to the new Bundesliga season by going top of the table for time being after they defeated SC Freiburg 3-0 at the RheinEnergieStadion on Friday evening.
It was a game that was slow to get going but when it did the home side took full advantage of it by scoring three goals in a blistering 14-minute spell to take the game away from the visitors.
Anthony Modeste scored a brace of goals while Leonardo Bittencourt scored the other to give the hosts a very comfortable victory on a night not many people will forget in a hurry.
Cautious start to the game from both sides
It was a very tactical game to start off with as both teams weren't letting each other settle on the ball by closing each other down well.
This was until the game spread into life when the hosts had the first real chance of the game when Marcel Risse found some space on the edge of the box but he put his shot wide of the goal.
Two goals in three minutes put the hosts in command
The home side continued to press after this and were finally rewarded for their efforts with the opening goal just before the half-hour mark. The goal came from a great cross by Risse from a corner which found Modeste in the box and the big striker powered a header into the left-hand corner of the net.
This really rattled the visitors and it wasn't long until the hosts capitalised on that to go two goals ahead. Yuya Osako took advantage of a good flick on from Modeste to play a lovely pass across the goal to the unmarked Bittencourt at the back post to tap the ball into the net to send the home crowd crazy.
The visitors needed to respond somehow and they almost got back into the game when a long range free kick from Onur Bulut forced Timo Horn into making a good save to keep his side two goals ahead.
Modeste scored a third just before half-time to take the game out sight for the visitors
Just as the visitors thought they were going to in at half time 2-0 down they conceded a third. A long throw in found it's way to Modeste in the box and the big striker muscled his way past a defender and powered yet another header into the top corner of the net to give the home side a commanding lead at the break.
Lots of missed chances from the visitors in the second half as they lose the game
The visitors came out of the blocks fast at the start of the second half and they should have got a goal back straight away. Florian Niederlechner was given the ball free in the box but the striker put his curling shot wide of the goal when he should have been hitting the target at least.
Freiburg continued to press hard but found it difficult to break down the home defence until a lovely through ball found Nils Petersen, who came on as a half-time substitution, but somehow he put his shot over the crossbar when all he had to was guide the ball into the net. The visitors just weren't helping themselves with some big misses as they tried to get back in the game.
Niederlechner had the visitor's next chance when he made some space in the box for himself but he saw two shots saved by the impressive Horn, who was determined to keep a clean sheet for the third successive game.
Unfortunately for the visitors that was to be their last chance to get a consolidation goal in a game that they let slip by them in a spell in the first half where they couldn't live with the hosts.