FC Koln have continued their unbeaten start to the season by coming from behind to beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the RheinEnergieStadion.
In a first half with very few opportunities on offer, there was very little to separate the two sides but Timo Horn did come to the rescue for the hosts to get a strong hand to Ivo Ilicevic's free kick.
© Getty Images
An uneventful opening 45 minutes was quickly forgotten when Hamburg broke the deadlock two minutes after the break through Lewis Holtby, who showed his composure with a fine finish after linking up with Sven Schipplock.
The lead should have been doubled when Ilicevic was gifted space to turn in the box, but Horn made a crucial save to keep the low effort out.
Hamburg were almost made to regret the miss a few moments later when Anthony Modeste took advantage of poor defending to unleash a powerful strike which crashed against the crossbar.
It was a sign of what was to come from Koln, who were back on level terms with 14 minutes of normal time remaining when Philipp Hosiner climbed highest to head home Jonas Hector's cross on his Bundesliga debut.
The momentum was with the hosts after the equaliser and they were handed the opportunity to take the lead when Emir Spahic was shown a straight red card for chopping down Modeste in the box.
Modeste stepped up with the pressure on his shoulders, but he slotted home the penalty to silence the away fans and clinch all three points for his side.
Callum Mulvihill
