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Showing posts from September, 2018

Matchday 7 Recap: 1. FC Union Berlin 2 - 0 Holstein Kiel

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1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Hübner, Lenz; Schmiedebach, Prömel, Zulj; Hedlund (Hartel), Andersson (Polter), Gogia (Ryerson) Holstein Kiel: Kronholm; Dehm, Schmidt, Wahl, Van den Bergh; Kinsombi, Mühling (Girth), Meffert; Lee; Serra, Honsak (Schindler (Okugawa)) Goals: Union: Prömel, 90; Polter, 90+4 Polter marching back onto the pitch like the badass he is. Source: Union Berlin .  Wow. Just when you thought Union Berlin were going to slump to a fourth consecutive league draw, they ended up taking all three points from a Holstein Kiel side that at first seemed utterly impossible to break down. But thanks to Grischa Prömel’s continued hot streak and the return of the one and only Sebastian Polter -- not to mention the continued heroics of Rafal Gikiewicz in goal -- Union got back to winning ways in style. As expected, Fischer lightly rotated the squad to account for the quick turnaround, giving some fringe players a chance to get some substantial minutes u

Matchday 6 Recap: DSC Arminia Bielefeld 1 - 1 1. FC Union Berlin

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DSC Arminia Bielefeld: Ortega; Brunner (Clauss), Hartherz, Prietl, Börner; Seufert, Edmundsson, Salger, Weihrauch (Staude); Voglsammer (Owusu), Klos 1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Hübner, Friedrich, Reichel; Schmiedebach, Prömel, Kroos (Zulj); Hartel (Ryerson), Andersson, Gogia (Hedlund) Goals: Bielefeld: Voglsammer, 65 Union: Prömel, 44  With the way Gikiewicz is standing off to the side, he does not appear to be "united by football." Source: Union Berlin on Twitter Well, on the plus side, Union Berlin are the only unbeaten team left in the 2. Bundesliga. On the downside, that is largely because four of their six matches have ended in draws. On paper, this week’s draw away at Bielefeld feels more respectable than draws against relegation fodder like Duisburg and Sandhausen; if Union had managed to beat those two teams, not only would this draw be much less disappointing, but they’d also be clear at the top of the table with 14 points. Instead, they’re curre

Matchday 5: 1. FC Union 2 -2 MSV Duisburg

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1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Hübner, Friedrich, Reichel; Kroos (Redondo), Schmiedebach (Hedlund), Prömel; Hartel (Zulj), Gogia, Andersson MSV Duisburg: Mesenhöler; Wiegel, Wolze, Neumann, Bomheuer (Nauber); Schnellhardt, Fröde; Oliveira Souza, Stoppelkamp (Engin), Iljutchenko, Tashchy (Sukuta Pasu) Goals: Union - Gogia, 44; Hübner, 90+1 Duisburg - Oliveira Souza, 77; Sukuta-Pasu, 83 Gogia doing Gogia things. Source: Union Berlin Well, that was a match to remember -- not that you would have guessed that if you turned off the game at halftime. The first half was a back and forth affair similar to so many other Union first halves this season, with Duisburg -- not just winless, but also goalless to start the season -- desperate to keep the game scoreless as long as they could. In fact, it almost seemed like they had started time wasting in the first half in an attempt to secure at least a goalless draw, so frequently did Duisburg players seem to be going to t

Preview: 1. FC Union Berlin v. MSV Duisburg

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Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin Friday, September 14 12:30 p.m. EDT, 18:30 CEST Referee: Michael Bacher This Match, Last Year: Union Berlin 0 - 0 Duisburg All-Time in All Competitions: 9 Union Berlin wins, 5 Duisburg wins, 6 draws Union Berlin's League Form: W-W // W-D-W-D Duisburg's League Form: D-W // L-L-L-L It's felt like ages since Union have played, thanks to the international break, and it feels like ages since Union have scored a goal, thanks to the scoreless draw at Sandhausen two weeks ago. But it's been an even longer wait for Duisburg, the visitors to Alte Försterei tonight, as they haven't scored a 2. Bundesliga goal all season. There are no easy games in this division, as Union could tell you. The last time Union beat a team sitting in 16th or worse in the table at the time of the match was a 3-1 win over Greuther Fürth on October 21. They lost at 16th place Heidenheim last year, at 18th place Kaiserslautern, drew 0-0

Matchday 4 Recap: SV Sandhausen 0 - 0 1. FC Union Berlin

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SV Sandhausen: Lomb; Kister, Karl, Verlaat; Klingmann, Jansen, Förster (Wooten), Linsmayer, Paqarada (Müller); Behrens, Schleusener (Gislason) 1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Hübner, Reichel; Schmiedebach; Redondo (Gogia), Prömel, Zulj (Kroos), Hedlund (Hartel); Andersson Goals: none [insert lineup of crying emojis here] Union away support at Sandhausen outperformed the team. Source: Union Berlin While there is no shortage of things to say about a big Union Berlin home win over St. Pauli, there is not much to say at all about a drab nil-nil draw away to Sandhausen. Despite Sandhausen being winless so far this season and sitting 17th in the table, this was always guaranteed to be a tough fixture for Union. Union had only won one game at Sandhausen in seven attempts before Sunday’s kickoff; their record there now stands at 1-4-3. Last year, Union lost this fixture 1-0, so technically this result is an improvement. And indeed, even though the match left a lot t