1-0 against bottom team – Union Berlin gets an important win against Darmstadt 98
IMAGO/Matthias Koch
Audio: rbb24 Inforadio | 01/28/2024 | Jakob Rüger | Image: IMAGO/Matthias Koch
Even without its suspended coach Bjelica, Union Berlin won a hard-fought basement duel. Thanks to the narrow success against bottom team Darmstadt, the Köpenick team can take a breather in the table before a strenuous few weeks.
- With a 1-0 win, Union Berlin takes a five-point lead over the relegation place
- In addition, the Unioners still have a catch-up game to play (at Mainz 05)
- Union coach Nenad Bjelica sat suspended in the stands for the first of three games
Union Berlin started aggressively
Much was said before the game about the consequences of Nenad Bjelica’s fisticuffs against Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sané reported. For example, whether the ban on the Union coach for three games by the German Football Association (DFB) is sufficient, whether the Union club management itself should dismiss the coach entirely, or whether there are disagreements between the coach and the team.
Before the game against Darmstadt 98 kicked off, the main question was whether the Berlin players – led on the sidelines by co-tainer Danijel Jumic – would be able to cope well with the excitement. The answer was: yes, with committed football. Powerful Union attack efforts kept the guests’ defense on its toes.
The greatest opportunity in this phase was created by Benedict Hollerbach, who started a 40-meter sprint on the left side to the baseline and from there passed it to Andras Schäfer. However, the Hungarian, who replaced Janik Haberer in the starting line-up, was unable to get the ball into the opponent’s goal under pressure (3′).
After a quarter of an hour, Darmstadt defender Clemens Riedel limped off the field injured after he sprained himself in a duel with Lucas Tousart. Substitute Christoph Zimmermann took over his role in central defense.
Behrens misses the greatest opportunity
After a break of several minutes to clean up tennis balls – they were thrown onto the pitch by spectators in protest against investor plans in the German Football League (DFL) – the game initially became more balanced, and the Darmstadt team also launched occasional attacks.
The Union attacker has been scoreless in 15 Bundesliga games Kevin Behrens took the lead after a good half hour. The 32-year-old sensitively accepted a tight pass seven meters in front of the goal on the half-left side, but then missed the shot completely.
Hollerbach takes the lead
From the VIP box, the suspended Bjelica watched as his team started the second half explosively after the break. Darmstadt’s Bartol Franjic unintentionally played the ball into Hollerbach’s path near the center circle. In the sprint duel with Darmstadt’s defense, the Union player was ahead, so he only had keeper Marcel Schuhen in front of him – but he brilliantly parried the corner kick (47th).
After a good hour, Robin Gosens played a successful opening attack from deep on the starting Schäfer, who passed through to Hollerbach from a central position just before the penalty area. This time he stayed cool and tunneled to the 1-0 lead (62′).
The hosts then had the opportunity to finally decide the game with another goal on several occasions, but they always lacked precision when finishing. It remained 1-0 – also because the guests lacked any significant offensive threat in the last half hour.
Next Sunday, Union Berlin will be playing at RB Leipzig, and three days later the game will continue Catch-up game at Mainz 05.
The comments after the game:
Oliver Ruhnert (Managing Director Union Berlin): “Anyone who looks at the table will also see the importance of three points today. I think the win is deserved in the end because of the second half and the many chances to score.”
Ruhnert about Bjelica: “We said for ourselves that we didn’t like the behavior of a head coach from Union Berlin on Wednesday. We told the team that, we also made that clear to the coach and we also expected him to be in favor of it “I apologize in all forms, that’s what he did. He got a penalty from the DFB and a penalty from us on top. And it’s clear to us that something like this must not happen again under any circumstances.”
Thorsten Lieberknecht (coach Darmstadt 98): “We played well until the penalty area, but around the penalty area we were too hesitant to get better shots on goal. The opportunities were there.”
The voices in the audio
The game in the live ticker
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, January 28, 2024, 3:30 p.m