Finished 1-1 and the point keeps Koln in second, 5 points clear of third-placed sides Magdeburg and Kaiserslautern, who both have a game in hand. With 6 games left, Koln are looking OK for a return to Buli action. BTW It's Kaiserslautern at home on the final day.
Downs hit double digits for the season as he puts Koln up 3-1 in the 56th vs Preußen Münster. Controlled a difficult pass nicely with the chest and brought it down and fired home. Very nice goal.
Downs starts against Hannover today, trying to stay top of the 2.Bund table. Scoreless, but the Hamburgers are losing simultaneously - huge chance here. ESPN+.
Köln go down 1-0. Feisty affair with 10 yellows and Koln played a man down for most of the second half. Hard fought match but Koln were unable to breakthrough. Downs played 74 mins and was pretty invisible. He only got a handful of touches on the ball. 15K Koln fans made the journey to Hannover hoping to clinch the title. Dow
Still three to play - they couldn't have even clinched the playoff spot today. But it could have been damn close.
gotcha. Though that’s not what the commentator was saying. I found it odd but was like okay if he’s staying it…..,
He was likely talking about de facto promotion. A win would have put Koln 7 points clear of third with 3 games to play. Closeable in theory but it's highly unlikely to happen.
Downs still in reserve for today's match, but Koln just got reallyclose to promotion as a debutant goalkeeper for Nurnberg tries a slick dribbling move to fend off a pressing Lemperle and stumbles. Lemperle takes over the ball, dribbles toward the vacated goal, and plays a square ball to Kainz with only a field player on the goal line to beat. Horrifying debut, but that puts Koln up 2-1 and if they can hold it, they'll at a minimum go into the final match with a huge advantage, and could clinch promotion this matchday if those behind drop points.
It's not a great sign Downs doesn't even play in a game they needed goals in late. Not the note he wanted to end the season on for his BL & USMNT chances this summer.
Maybe, but Koln were (even more?) dominant after their equalizer and it was a game they didn't dare lose. A draw would still have left them in control of their destiny heading into the final day as a win would guarantee promotion. In that scenario, coaches often keep the forwards and AMs on the pitch to the end as a vote of confidence. If Koln are 1-0 down with 15 minutes to go next weekend, you can bet your bottom dollar Downs will be warming up As it is, Koln have one foot in BL1. A single point, at home, against a mid-table Kaiserslautern will be enough no matter what Elversberg or Paderborn do.
They won 4-0 and captured the league title as well as promotion to the 1.BL: He came out in the 71st.
Assist: Tyler on X: "Damion Downs (04) assist to double the lead for FC Köln https://t.co/xs3EHa10v4" / X
There was also a play in this game where a (pretty good) through pass was just a bit underhit -- if it had hit him in stride, he'd have surely been in -- but he collected it well and found the winger nicely. I don't pretend to be an expert on Downs, but when I've watched him I've wondered whether, at least now, his natural inclination is more of a winger or a striker. My suspicion is that most of his club coaches will try to make him into the latter, and see how it goes.
I've thought this, too. Downs has bulked up a bit from last season to this season. He was long and lanky at 6'4" similar to Haji Wright. I'd venture to say 170-175ish pounds last year. He looks to be 185-190 pounds now. Now he looks like a hulking yet very agile # 9. If you watch him, even as a 9, he isn't exactly posting up and backing down a CB. He's playing more side-on with an open gate to receive and plays in the channel in-between the CB and FB. He has a nice delicate touch and almost has that winger-esque explosion off the dribble. Because of that, I've wondered if he started out as a winger and transitioned in to a 9 as a pro.
Made the preliminary roster for the Gold Cup. https://mcusercontent.com/78d3589fb...a1-07049b725208/25_GC_Preliminary_Rosters.pdf
1933790849386615140 is not a valid tweet id Fresh after the drop, Southampton showing interest in Downs. Good move, bad move…. I don’t know. But he has a chance to play under one of the brightest, up-and-coming managers in the game, Will Still. I didn’t realize he was hired by Southampton a few weeks ago.