Almost 20 minutes had been played when the Berlin monologue approached its acoustic climax. The alternating chants of the 1. FC Union Berlin fans became louder and louder. From the forest side, from the back straight, from all sides, the cries echoed through the An der Alten Försterei stadium: “Union, Union!”
The Köpenickers were also in control on the pitch at this point, leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Tom Rothe and Woo-yeong Jeong. It was close at the end, but the afternoon ended as it had begun: with cheers from the Union fans. With the 2-1 (2-0) win against TSG Hoffenheim, the Berliners remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season and are now eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
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Compared to respectable 0:0 in Leipzig a week ago There were three changes at Union. Coach Bo Svensson returned to the sidelines after recovering from an infection and tried it on the offensive with Jordan and Jeong instead of Tim Skarke and Laszlo Benes. Goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow received two congratulations before the game: for being voted Unioner of the past season and for his 100th competitive game.
In the minutes that followed, the Dane hardly had a chance to demonstrate his quality, as the action mostly took place far away from his penalty area. The initial feeling-out process was still in full swing when Union received a corner and took it short. Jeong’s cross landed at the feet of a Hoffenheim player and from there it pinged via Danilho Doekhi and Jordan to Rothe. The left-back didn’t hesitate and volleyed the ball under the crossbar.
In the first half only Union plays
The game had barely restarted when Rothe intercepted a pass on the left sideline and sent Benedict Hollerbach on his way. His cross suffered a similar fate to Jeong’s before the 1-0. It was deflected and wandered through the penalty area and it was Jeong who brought calm to the situation. With a hook, he let his opponent slide into the void and finished with ice-cold precision.
Hoffenheim was visibly unsettled and was lucky that Union did not take more advantage of this. In their 3-4-2-1 formation, the Berliners won many balls in promising positions and made numerous crosses into the middle, but the final pass often lacked precision.
A cross from Janik Haberer was a little too high for Jordan, Jeong’s volley was blocked for a corner, Hollerbach shot just over the bar from the edge of the penalty area – it was a game with one goal.
The final phase will be rough
Hoffenheim barely made it into the opponent’s half and didn’t make Union’s back line sweat. It took until the 43rd minute before Tim Drexler took the first shot on goal from 25 meters. Rönnow, who had been unemployed until then, was wide awake and deflected the ball into the corner.
Both coaches made substitutions at half-time – Hoffenheim’s Pellegrino Matarazzo because of his team’s shockingly weak performance, Svensson as a precautionary measure. Jordan had played well in the first half and handled many balls well, but had also received an early yellow card. Tim Skarke, who had only extended his contract on Friday, came on for him.
The dynamics of the match changed after the restart. Hoffenheim were now much more focused and created a few chances. After a cross from former Union player Marius Bülter, the strong Diogo Leite made a last-ditch save, and a little later, former Hertha player Haris Tabakovic, who had just been substituted on, was denied by Rönnow with a header from close range.
Union had lost control of the game and was unable to exploit the large spaces in Hoffenheim’s half. The number of bad passes increased and some players were now visibly exhausted. Svensson reacted and brought on a fresh offensive player, Yorbe Vertessen, but Union was now shaky.
This was reinforced when Bülter scored the 1:2 with a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 67th minute. The fans sensed that their team needed support and shouted: “Come on, Union, fight and win!” The Berliners did just that in a rough final phase.
