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Aachen-FCK

FCK head coach Marco Kurz made a few changes to the team that drew at home against Rot Weiss Ahlen last Saturday, naming Nemec alongside Lakic up front with Sidney Sam and Ivo Ilicevic patrolling the flanks, Pierre de Wit and Jiri Bilek in the midfield and the strong regular defensive unit. The sub’s bench featured Georges Mandjeck who had just returned to the team from Angola where he represented Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations.

Wearing white shorts – just like they did in their game against FC St. Pauli when they defeated their closest rivals 2-1 on the road in September 2009 – the Red Devils entered the field of play truly determined to pick up three points at the new Tivoli on Monday, February 1, 2010. Once referee Lutz Wagner whistled play underway on a freezing ice-cold night in Aachen, the guests from the Palatinate treated the 21,152 crowd at the stadium to a lively opening spell creating chances at regular intervals. With Ivo Ilicevic capitalizing on poor defensive work by the home side, the Red Devils sent their first hint as to why they are at the top of the table. However, Aachen managed to make amends for the fault, stopping Dick before he was able to fire goalwards. Nevertheless, a few minutes later, the agile Ilicevic fed Sidney Sam, whose excellent long-range effort was capably parried by Aachen’s shot-stopper Stuckmann on 12 minutes. Seizing the game by the scruff of the neck, the guests pressured for the first goal as the home side was trying to find the right means to fight back.

The in-form Germany Under-21 player Sam, who had scented blood before, had the ball in the net with 18 minutes on the clock after Pierre de Wit handed him a golden opportunity on a silver plate when the Red Devils fought back from a rare Aachen foray at lightning speed with Ilicevic feeding Sam with a brilliant square pass from the right to the left just to see his team-mate adorably burying the ball in the net displaying an excellent daisy-cutter. That shook the home side awake as the crowd at Tivoli saw Benjamin Auer warming Sippel’s gloves just twice within a couple of minutes. The young FCK goalkeeper, however, saved capably both times.

The match gained pace as the home side started to act less nervous. Nevertheless, Marco Kurz’s team still was in control of the happenings on the pitch with an absolutely convincing performance of their defensive unit and an incredibly in-form Martin Amedick. His team-mate and assistant team captain Lakic, who had just returned to the squad after a long injury lay-off, had two scoring opportunities within only a few minutes, but his attempts failed to hit the target (40, 45).

After the break, George Mandjeck duly emerged in place of Jiri Bilek. The Red Devils started the second half as strongly as the first, with Sam scoring from inside the goal box just to see his shot being deflected (53). However, the home side was more present on the pitch now, trying to get back into the game and fight back to save at least one point. Nevertheless, the guests from Kaiserslautern clearly were in control and did not give away their dominance at all. With 63 minutes on the clock, FCK head coach Marco Kurz replaced Lakic by Jendrisek. Even if the home side became stronger during the closing spell, pressuring for the equalizer, 1. FC Kaiserslautern did not give away their dominance still controlling the happenings on the field of play building up their attacks right from the defense.

On 82 minutes, the home side’s faint hopes of a comeback were finally buried as Sidney Sam had the ball in the net after Ilicevic had given his opponents the runaround leading them a merry dance before passing to Sam, who displayed his excellence and completed the brace. With the game well and truly over as a contest, the referee awarded a penalty kick in consequence of a foul against Mandjeck. Up stepped the unstoppable Sam adding his third goal, crowning the night, his night and the night that resolved all doubts about the Red Devils’ merited lead in the league.