Substitute Thijs Dallinga scores twice as Cologne come from behind to beat Hoffenheim 3-2

Cologne marked their return to the Bundesliga with a comeback. Down 2-1 to Hoffenheim with 20 minutes to go, they sent on Thijs Dallinga, and the loan signing scored twice inside 10 minutes to win it 3-2 at the RheinEnergieSTADION.

Adam Daghim had put Hoffenheim ahead on 27 minutes, set up by Bambasé Conté — a finish Bundesliga's own post-match data rated at just a 4% expected-goals probability, the kind of strike a team can't plan for conceding. Saïd El Mala levelled early in the second half after Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann had already denied him a one-on-one in the first, then Ozan Kabak nodded Hoffenheim back in front on 67 from a Vladimír Coufal cross. In between, Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe saved a Max Moerstedt penalty on 57 minutes and then stopped him again from open play soon after — the double save the hosts point to when the story of the match comes up.

Wagner's change sparks the comeback

Head coach René Wagner sent on Dallinga and Linton Maina together on 65 minutes, and the double substitution decided the game. Dallinga needed seven minutes to equalise, sweeping in Maina's cross, then pounced on a loose ball on 82 to make it 3-2. Cologne held on from there. Dallinga was voted man of the match with 63% of the fan vote — a striking share for a player who started on the bench — and he shared the afternoon's debut headlines with three Cologne players making their own first Bundesliga appearances: Luka Lochoshvili, Mensah and Okon-Engstler, a reminder of how much of this squad is new to the German top flight after promotion.

Dallinga arrived at Cologne on loan from Italian side Bologna, a 26-year-old Dutch international forward who stands 1.90m and wears the number 27 shirt. He built his reputation with 26 Ligue 1 goals across two seasons at Toulouse before the move to Serie A, and matchday 1 was his Bundesliga debut in full — his first appearance for the club came off the bench, and he made it count inside a quarter of an hour on the pitch.

Match facts

• 27' — Adam Daghim (Hoffenheim), assisted by Bambasé Conté
• 51' — Saïd El Mala (Cologne)
• 57' — Max Moerstedt (Hoffenheim) penalty saved by Marvin Schwäbe
• 67' — Ozan Kabak (Hoffenheim), assisted by Vladimír Coufal
• 72' — Thijs Dallinga (Cologne), assisted by Linton Maina
• 82' — Thijs Dallinga (Cologne)

Hoffenheim had the ball more but not the cutting edge — six shots on target to three, and a penalty missed, is how a team loses a game it led twice.

How the two sides have fared since

Cologne couldn't carry the momentum straight through: a 4-1 defeat away to VfB Stuttgart on matchday 2 was followed by a 1-1 home draw with Werder Bremen on matchday 3, then a 1-2 loss away to Hamburger SV on matchday 4. Hoffenheim's run after this defeat was rockier still — beaten 3-2 at home by Borussia Dortmund on matchday 2, before a 2-1 win over Stuttgart on matchday 3 gave them their only points of the opening month, and a 1-3 loss away to Paderborn on matchday 4.

Four matchdays in, Cologne sit 13th on 4 points with a goal difference of -3 (six scored, nine conceded), one place and one point above Hoffenheim, who are 14th on 3 points with an identical -3 goal difference from seven scored and ten conceded. Neither side is close to the European places at the top, but neither is in the drop zone yet either — the relegation play-off spot starts at 16th, three places below Hoffenheim and four below Cologne. For Cologne, the opening-weekend win over Hoffenheim remains their only victory of the campaign so far.

One meeting so far

Cologne and Hoffenheim haven't crossed paths again since matchday 1 — Cologne's next three games came against Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV, Hoffenheim's against Dortmund, Stuttgart and Paderborn — so this comeback is still the only meeting between the two this season. On that single data point, Cologne have the edge: a come-from-behind win built on a bench that outperformed Hoffenheim's XI.