Pro Sports

Cologne wins Conference League game delayed a day by fog

Posted October 28, 2022 7:00 am

The Associated Press

Kristian Pedersen of Cologne, left, and Milan Petrzelka of Slovackos in action during the 5th round soccer match of the European Conference League between FC Slovackos and Cologne, in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Dalibor Gluck/CTK via AP) The Associated Press

UKERSKÃ‰ HRADIÅ TÄš, Czech Republic (AP) - After a day's delay caused by thick fog, Cologne beat SlovÃ¡cko 1-0 in the Europa Conference League on Friday.

The scheduled kickoff on Thursday night at Czech team SlovÃ¡cko's stadium was put off twice in the hope the fog might clear. When it finally got under way that evening, referee Giorgi Kruashvili abandoned the match after six minutes because visibility was poor.

The game restarted early Friday afternoon in much clearer conditions with a throw-in and the clock set to 7 minutes, 1 second.

Ondrej Duda scored the only goal from an 82nd-minute penalty after a foul by midfielder Michal KohÃºt.

Another Cologne player, Florian Kainz, saw an earlier penalty saved.

The final whistle sounded almost exactly 20 hours after the game was originally scheduled to start. Cologne is third in Group D, one point behind joint leaders Nice and Partizan Belgrade, and will qualify with a win over Nice next week. The loss ended SlovÃ¡cko's qualifying chances.

Both clubs are scheduled to play league games Sunday. Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart said his team had tried to get its game against Hoffenheim rescheduled after the fog delay but 'œin the end there was no good solution.'ť

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Cologne's Ellyes Skhiri, right, takes on Slovacko's Marek Havlik during the Europa Conference League soccer match between 1. FC Slovacko and Cologne, in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. (Dalibor Gluck/CTK via AP) The Associated Press

Cologne players warm up before the Group D, 5th round soccer match of the European Conference League between FC Slovacko and Cologne in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. The start of the match was postponed due to thick fog. (Dalibor Gluck/CTK via AP) The Associated Press

Cologne players leave after the 5th round soccer match of the European Conference League between FC Slovacko and Cologne was cancelled due to fog, in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Dalibor Gluck/CTK via AP) The Associated Press

Cologne players warm up before the Group D, 5th round soccer match of the European Conference League between FC Slovacko and Cologne, in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. The start of the match was postponed due to thick fog. (Dalibor Gluck/CTK via AP) The Associated Press

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