Cologne’s Malek El Mala scored on his Bundesliga debut to outshine younger brother Saïd and hand his struggling side a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin on Sunday.
It was the Billygoats’ first away point of the league season. Cologne had thumped Union 5-0 at home in the German Cup second round only on Tuesday.
The El Mala pair shared a pitch for Cologne’s senior team for the first time on Sunday as 21-year-old Malek fired into the roof of the net on 79 minutes. His 20-year-old brother’s cross had somehow found its way to him across the packed Union box.
“I don’t know what to say, it feels unbelievable,” Malek told streaming portal DAZN.
“It was a very important for us to get a point. We have really fought and expended lots of energy. But it’s all indescribable.”
Germany winger Saïd had earlier missed Cologne’s best chance up to that point when he shot over, moments after Malek had been introduced from the bench.
The older but less experienced brother showed his sibling how it was done having only been on the field for seven minutes.
Saïd added: “I’m happy for the lad, I see how hard he works. He has totally deserved it.”
Union had seized an early lead when Janik Haberer scored his second goal in two games having gone two seasons without netting in the league. The midfielder-turned-wingback prodded home after good work by Tim Skarke.
The capital club are in the relegation play-off spot with seven points from eight games, while Cologne lie 13th on nine.
Eintracht Frankfurt beat Hamburg 3-1 at home in Sunday’s late game to leapfrog their 15th-placed opponents and power up to eighth in the tight standings.
Younes Ebnoutalib and Raphael Onyedika struck in the second half to secure the win. Warmed Omari had netted an unlucky own goal on 10 minutes to boost Frankfurt, but Terem Moffi quickly spared his team-mate’s blushes with an equalizer.
Frankfurt brought Niko Iličević, the nephew of former Croatia international Ivo Iličević, off the bench for his debut just a day after his 16th birthday.
On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 at Bayern Munich to stay level on points with the leaders at the top of the Bundesliga.
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