It was a special night for 1. FCöln as they celebrated the club's 68th birthday, and it couldn't have gone any better as their 3-1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt gave them a reason to celebrate long into the night.
The build-up
Köln went into the game in tenth place, which is largely due to their amount of draws; the only team to have been involved in more stalemates is Hoffenheim. On their birthday, they were looking to get back to winning ways after just one win in their last eight Bundesliga matches.
The guests to the Billy Goats' party were Frankfurt, who have really struggled this season and found themselves in fifteenth place. The club only managed two wins in their last ten matches - both coming either sides of the winter break. The Eagles have failed to build on their impressive win over Wolfsburg, with a draw and a defeat since then.
Early openings
The game started as an even battle between the two sides; the closest the game came to an early goal was from the away side. Just after the ten minute mark, a corner was met by the head of David Abraham, who directed the effort just over the crossbar.
Köln were forced into an early change as Simon Zoller pulled up holding his hamstring, meaning Matthias Lehmann was brought on and this allowed Yannick Gerhardt to push forward. This almost paid off instantly as the youngster broke into the area before dragging his shot across goal and just wide.
Frankfurt almost took the lead on the twenty minute mark, the chance came from another corner and it was Szabolcs Huszti that produced a great header on target, unfortunately for the Hungarian his effort was meet with a very good save from Timo Horn.
Both sides trade goals before the break
Shortly after that chance, the ball found the back of the Köln net. The home side failed to clear and this allowed Huszti to pick up the ball just outside the area, the Hungarian was able to pick out Alexander Meier and from six yards out the forward fired past Horn.
The response from Köln was almost instant. A cross into the Frankfurt box was defended poorly and this allowed Anthony Modeste to turn and play the ball through to Gerhardt. The midfielder showed great calmness to slot the ball past Lukas Hradecky.
The equaliser restored the battle between the two and the remaining minutes of the half show both sides work hard to come out on top. Neither was able to add a second, with a high amount of free-kicks breaking up the play.
Heintz heads his side ahead
The second half took some time to get going and it certainly got interesting when Makoto Hasebe committed a foul on Leonardo Bittencourt; this was his third foul and was correctly given a yellow. Angered by this, Hasebe seemed like a ticking time bomb and moments later he could have seen red after a poor tackle on Mërgim Mavraj.
A couple of moments later Köln took advantage of another free-kick out wide. Filip Mladenović delivered an excellent cross into the area and this saw Dominique Heintz leap above the rest to powerfully head back across goal and into the far corner.
Just after the hour mark, Köln should've been two goals clear. Mladenović fired in a cross from the left to pick out the free Lehmann. However, the midfielder somehow struck the crossbar from a couple of yards out when faced with a wide open goal.
Modeste seals the win
The home side were playing with plenty of confidence after taking the lead and they were starting to dominate. Köln missed a glorious chance just before the game entered the last twenty minutes, as Gerhardt slipped the ball through to Jonas Hector but the midfielder couldn't put his effort past Hradecky.
With 72 minutes on the clock Köln finally made it 3-1 thanks to a lovely counter attack. Bittencourt came inside before playing a brilliant pass through to Gerhardt and the youngster remained clam in front of goal before passing the ball across to Modeste to fire home his tenth goal of the season.
Frankfurt tried to get back into the match, but they continued to fall at the last hurdle as Köln remained strong at the back and even more threatening on the counter.
Köln celebrated their birthday in style and the victory sees them move up to ninth. The win comes just in time, as they take the short trip to face their rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach next weekend. For Frankfurt it is another loss and with Werder Bremen breathing down their necks they'll have to brush themselves off for the visit of Hamburger SV on Friday night.