Xabi Alonso after 1. FC Köln win: "We were lucky not to concede"

Bayer Leverkusen gained an instant advantage in the 14th minute when Köln player Jan Thielmann was sent off.

Goals from Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo allowed die Werkself to grab a 2-0 derby away win.

Following the game, Xabi Alonso said: "It's to early to say (that I'm a good manager). Earlier, I saw Hamburg versus Osnabrück and Hamburg lost against ten men. And today, it was never spectacular and never easy."

On the matter of why it is can be so hard to play against ten men, Alonso said: "They defend deeper with ten men. There is not as much space. Of course, we had a lot of the ball and control but we couldn't make too many chances."

Xabi Alonso also noted that Köln were dangerous on the counter and also said that Bayer Leverkusen were "lucky not to concede" with Sargis Adamyan's huge chance hitting the post.

Finally, Alonso reinstated that they would take it "game by game" with the response to a question about being undefeated.