Four days before their Champions League debut at Real Madrid, 1. FC Union Berlin lost at VfL Wolfsburg. The Berliners presented themselves too harmlessly in the Bundesliga, especially offensively.
The Wolves won 2-1 (2-1) in their own stadium on Saturday (September 16th, 2023) and celebrated their third win of the season. After the second defeat in a row, the Unioners are heading towards mid-table in the Bundesliga.
To the live ticker: Wolfsburg – Union arrow right 4th matchday arrow right
Jonas Wind (10th) and Joakim Maehle (30th) scored for Wolfsburg. Robin Gosens (28th) provided the interim equalizer.
Wolfsburg coach Kovac: “We did really well”
“We scored the goals very efficiently and did really well after making it 1-0. We didn’t allow much,” said VfL coach Niko Kovac at the Sportschau microphone. Union coach Urs Fischer wasn’t entirely dissatisfied either. “We tried to find playful solutions. I think the team did a good job. You’ll need that in Madrid too,” said Fischer.
Jonas Wind with his fifth goal of the season
The first half offered good entertainment value. The Wolfsburg team took the lead early on because they took advantage of a mistake in Berlin’s build-up game. The Croatian newcomer Lovro Majer (came from Stade Rennes) served goalgetter Wind, who didn’t miss the chance and made it 1-0 – his fifth goal of the season.
Another goal: Jonas Wind
But the Champions League starter from the capital struck back. After Aissa Laidouni’s cross, national player Gosens headed the ball into the goal to make it 1-1 – a nice goal.
This didn’t bring calm to the Berliners’ actions, on the contrary: less than three minutes later the “Wolves” were back in the front. After a corner, the Berliners cleared the ball, but the ball landed at right-back Joakim Maehle, who scored from an ambush to give Wolfsburg the lead again. A deserved result after 45 minutes, because Kovac’s protégés played with stronger combinations and were generally superior.
Boredom in the second half, Union’s Bonucci stays out
It wasn’t quite as entertaining after the break. The Wolfsburg team focused on securing the defense. Union failed to showcase its offensive forces Kevin Behrens and David Fofana.
The second half was comparatively lacking in highlights. Union’s star purchase Leonardo Bonucci warmed up on the sidelines, but was not brought in by coach Urs Fischer. Union invested more in the second half, but the final clarity and will in their actions was missing.
This was also the case with Sheraldo Becker’s header in the 86th minute, which narrowly missed the goal. On the other hand, Tiago Tomas only hit the post for VfL. So it remained a narrow victory for Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg challenged in Dortmund, Union against Real Madrid
On the 5th matchday, the “Wolves” go to Dortmund (Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.). At the same time, Union Berlin takes on TSG Hoffenheim. Before that, the “Iron” will play the highlight game in the Champions League against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
2023-09-16 17:15:00
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