In the emotional game one after the separation from Urs Fischer, Union Berlin stopped the bitter series of bankruptcies in the Bundesliga. In the debut of interim coach Marco Grote and his assistant Marie-Louise Eta, the first female coach in a Bundesliga game, the Köpenick team fought to a 1-1 draw against FC Augsburg on Saturday. For the Unioners, who remain in a relegation zone, it was the first point after nine league defeats in a row.
After successful coach Fischer and Union separated the previous week after five successful years in order to enable the ailing club to turn things around, the draw gave a glimmer of hope in the fight to stay in the league. Kevin Volland (88th) let Union celebrate after Robin Knoche (58th) missed a penalty for the hosts, who had not won in 15 competitive games, according to video evidence. Ermedin Demirović (39th, penalty kick) had previously given Augsburg the lead. “There may be a bit of relief,” said national player Robin Gosens about the result.
“It will be a hard road”
Despite the small sense of success, the pressure on the Union team remains high – and the program remains iron-hard. First on Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on DAZN) we go to Sporting Braga in the Champions League, where the only thing that matters for Berlin is qualification for the Europa League, and three days later it’s the Bundesliga -Game against champions Bayern Munich (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky).
Before Grote and Eta began their new beginning mission against Augsburg, the Union fans thanked Fischer and his co-coach Markus Hoffmann. “You have achieved dreams that we never actually had,” was written under a likeness of the coaching team on the forest side.
After looking back, Union had to somehow find its way into the now. President Dirk Zingler warned Sky that Grote and Eta should “not be overloaded with expectations, it will be a hard road”. Although the interim coaches had to do without the injured Leonardo Bonucci and Sheraldo Becker, they nevertheless chose an offensive formation in which Kevin Volland, David Fofana and Kevin Behrens were to rotate up front.
Dahmen holds almost everything
Union also immediately seemed more dangerous than in many of their previous appearances. After a cross from national player Robin Gosens, Behrens (10th) beat Augsburg’s Felix Uduokhai in the penalty area and was only denied by goalkeeper Finn Dahmen in a one-on-one. The hosts, for whom Behrens (27′) headed just wide, played courageously in this phase.
However, bad luck quickly caught up with her again. When Gosens cleared an Augsburg attack on the edge of the penalty area with a hard tackle against Arne Engels, referee Florian Badstübner saw it as a foul and, according to the video images, also pointed to the spot. The Alte Försterei was seething – but Demirović easily pushed the penalty over the line at the bottom right. Shortly before the break, Fofana (45th + 4) had the chance to equalize, but Dahmen made a strong save.
Published/Updated: Published/Updated: Published/Updated:
Even after the break it remained a heated game in which Union invested a lot to equalize. However, Dahmen always stood in the way. First he saved a penalty from Knoche after a foul on Christiopher Trimmel, then Fofana (62nd) couldn’t get past the brilliant goalkeeper. The goals didn’t want to come in this phase – or count. Before Gosens (64th) headed the ball into the goal, the full-back was offside. Ultimately, however, Volland caused the forestry company to tremble.
