Hoffenheim II and Fortuna Köln played out a 2:2 draw in the Third League's fifth round at the Dietmar-Hop-Stadion on Sunday. The result leaves Hoffenheim in seventh place with ten points from six matches, while Fortuna remain fifteenth on six points.
Fortuna took the lead early when Maximilian Fischer scored in the thirtieth minute, giving them a brief advantage. Hoffenheim responded almost immediately, with Y. Zor finding the net in the twenty-seventh minute to level matters. Neo Telle then turned the tie around in his own net in the thirty-seventh minute, handing Hoffenheim a one-goal cushion.
By then Hoffenheim had made two changes, bringing on Enzo Wirtz and N. Thier for Neo Telle and N. Thier in the sixty-first minute. Fortuna added Romeo Aigbekaen for their own nineteen-year-old Telle at the same stage. Hoffenheim made three changes in quick succession — Romeo Aigbekaen, Juan Tiago Esteban Poller and Natnael Abraha — while Fortuna shuffled their back line with Jakov Dedic on.
The match remained deadlocked until the final moments. Hamadi Al Ghaddioui struck in the ninetieth minute and three seconds to rescue a point for Fortuna. Hoffenheim had dominated the ball, holding 62 per cent possession and registering 122 attacks against their opponents' 78. Yet Fortuna were more clinical, converting two of six shots on target compared to Hoffenheim's two from six.
The draw extended Hoffenheim's unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions, though it stopped them from closing the gap on the teams above them. Fortuna moved closer to safety, extending their unbeaten streak to three games. Both sides had one yellow card between them — Klaus Gjasula and Bennit Bröger — but neither manager had to deal with a dismissal.