At the end of last week he continued Sports information service from a breaking news story that told a little about the increased recognition for 1. FC Union Berlin. In the Conference League, the Köpenickers had a “feasible group” drawn, the news agency reported. That was amazing. The opponents Maccabi Haifa, Feyenoord Rotterdam and Sparta Prague are more or less established names on the continent. At least in comparison to 1. FC Union, who in turn played in the second division two years ago.
But it doesn’t help: Union is making circles. Or, as one could also say: always take a step forward. The An der Alten Försterei stadium also proved impregnable on Sunday, and this adjective has long been astonishing. The last home defeat dates from the first match day of the 20/21 season. The youngest victim was now Borussia Mönchengladbach, with 2-1 (2-0) the Berliners won. “Bitter pill, bitter defeat,” summed up Adi Hütter, Gladbach coach.
The Austrian, who only got one of nine possible points, had to carry out major renovation work before the trip to Berlin – Matthias Ginter (Corona) and the more seriously injured Stefan Lainer (ankle joint) and Marcus Thuram (torn knee ligament) were missing, among other things. His team survived the first chance through Christopher Trimmel (3rd) and soon took control of the game.
But the first mistake in the opponent’s build-up game – Louis Jordan Beyer made a fatal bad pass – Union used to take the lead. Access Genki Haraguchi, who knew how to please the same as Paul Jaeckel, who had just joined Union from Fürth, served Niko Gießelmann, and he followed up with a header that Gladbach’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer could only have held if he were five centimeters taller (22 .).
The second hit was also preceded by a Gladbach mistake, to which the Köpenickers reacted like piranhas to a drop of blood in the Amazon. This time Borussia’s captain Lars Stindl made a mistake in the opposing penalty area – then striker Taiwo Awoniyi completed a one-two with Max Kruse (42nd). Despite the leadership, there was also constructive self-criticism in the dressing room at Union during the break. In terms of football, the game was “not a treat,” said Kruse after the game, because Union played too many long balls for his taste. In the preseason, the Unioners played really good football. You should find your way back to that, thought Kruse.
And with the Gladbachers? If you looked at each other in the dressing room and asked yourself why it was actually 0: 2, Jonas Hofmann said (who, by the way, confirmed at DAZN that he would stay in Mönchengladbach). Coach Hütter, who was largely satisfied with the football performance of his team, replaced Patrick Herrmann and Denis Zakaria, they came for Hannes Wolf and Christoph Kramer.
The Gladbachers tried to play a game that was pore-deep, but their lecture lacked a pinch of inner conviction. The chance that Alassane Pléa missed was almost symbolic of this. Pléa had every place in the world to rush to Andreas Luthe’s goal and lock it. But he took so much time that it looked as if he was still looking for the exact coordinates of the target on Google Maps. The result: Timo Baumgartl got a leg in between (54th).
The rest was a game that Union loves: From a compact defensive order, in which all parts of the team worked self-sacrificingly, one bet on counterattack without hectic, with even more consistency a higher victory would have been possible. “When it comes to passion, will and solidarity, you have to give the team a big compliment,” Union coach Urs Fischer would later say. There were still a few moments of shock from the Gladbacher Zakaria and Joe Scally (71st / 79th), in the end there was also a follow-up goal by Jonas Hofmann. It fell in stoppage time – too late to endanger the Unioner’s 2-1 victory, although there was again hectic shortly before the end.
And that meant in the end: Gladbach is still waiting for the first win of the season, Union is unbeaten this season and after three game days in safe midfield. “That gives us confidence for the difficult tasks that are pending,” said Union coach Fischer. His Gladbacher Hütter reached into the lexicon of military terms: “Put on a steel helmet – we have to go through that.”