Sven Michel becomes the European guarantor for 1. FC Union Berlin. After his goal in the late win against RB Leipzig, the striker saved the iron in the 1-1 (0-1) against relegated SpVgg Greuther Fürth with his goal, another important point. After a disappointing performance on Friday evening, the Berliners still get a point in their 100th Bundesliga game and are still on course to qualify for the European Cup again. The relegated from Franconia almost became a big party crasher.
Branimir Hrgota (33rd minute) gave Fürth the lead in the An der Alten Försterei stadium on Friday evening at the start of the 32nd matchday. After a bad mistake by Nick Viergever, Michel (72nd) was still there. For Union, however, the draw was a minor setback. Instead of putting the competition under pressure and climbing to fifth place, the Irons now have to look closely at the results of their competitors from Freiburg, Cologne and Hoffenheim for their international ambitions. How would Fürth react after the sealed relegation? Lethargy or Ease? Even Union coach Urs Fischer didn’t want to commit himself beforehand and trusted in the strength of his own team. The iron surprise turned out to be quite violent.
Fürth just played with his limited possibilities – that was enough against an unusually inhibited Berlin team. Hrogta (8th) was surprised at how freely he was able to shoot. Ex-Herthan player Jessic Ngankam (17th) also had a surprising amount of free space in the Union penalty area. A crashing wake-up call was Tobias Raschl’s hitting the crossbar a few seconds later. Fürth’s outgoing coach Stefan Leitl would certainly not have imagined the start of the three-game farewell tour in the upper house to be so easy. The energy and vehemence that drove Union into the top third of the table was non-existent. The greatest danger was caused by Fürth’s Gian-Luca Itter with an unintentional back-heel in the direction of his own goal (31′), shortly afterwards Hrgota – once again free-standing – flicked the ball quite casually into the Union goal.
Fischer quoted captain Christopher Trimmel for an urgent tactical instruction on the sidelines, but there was no effect at first. After the break, Fischer dared to attack more and brought in Andreas Voglsammer as a third striker for Genki Haraguchi. The effort for more accents was now noticeable, but efficiency and penetrating power were still missing. The Fürth defense around the former Unioner Sebastian Griesbeck was able to intercept the attacking efforts of the Unioner relatively easily. It was only when Michel came on that was decisive. When Viergever blundered, the 31-year-old was on the spot after 128 seconds.