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

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 currently in 5th place with ten points, ahead of 6th Darmstadt on goal differential alone. It’s not a bad place to start the season, but if Union truly have their eyes on promotion, these draws are going to have to start turning into wins.

Good thing the next match comes so quickly, then! It’s the first Englische Woche of the season, and Union play Holstein Kiel at home on Tuesday. If Union can win this one, their unbeaten start will begin to look a lot more impressive. But before we even think about Kiel, we have to break down what happened in Bielefeld on Saturday.

Bielefeld finished 4th in the 2. Bundesliga last season, ahead of 8th place Union by only one point (in case you had forgotten how tight the table was right down to the final match of last season). So, this was never going to be an easy fixture. Urs Fischer stuck with the same starting 11 that battled to draw with Duisburg last week, with an attacking trio of Hartel, Gogia, and Andersson. All three of them have had strong starts to the season, but Bielefeld play a tough to break down 4-4-2 formation, and their midfield did a good job stifling Union’s attack for most of the first half.

Union’s first halves have looked largely similar across the first six matches of this season -- lots of back and forth, with quality chances gradually increasing in number as the half wears on and as the opposing team gets exhausted by Union’s energetic play. This has led to quite a few late first-half goals for Union, and it did again today, with Prömel capitalizing on a poor clearance to slot one past Bielefeld keeper Stefan Ortega in the 44th minute. Gogia had done the exact same thing against Duisburg during the previous week, and similar to that match, Union could head into halftime knowing that all they had to do was hold the lead in order to secure all three points. And, just like in that match, they failed to do so.

I have opined extensively about how much stronger Union’s defense has looked so far this season, and indeed, it’s worth pointing out that they're dropping points to draw, not lose, matches. Still, it’s growing increasingly frustrating to see Union sacrifice points this way, especially since, bar these brief moments of frailty, they do appear to be a much tougher team to break down this year.

But it only takes one moment of weakness to concede a 1-0 lead, and for Union, that happened in the 56th minute, when Bielefeld’s Andreas Voglsammer scored. It was a powerful, close-range header and poor Gikiewicz could do nothing to stop it. From there, Urs Fischer made what are becoming his usual substitution -- Zulj on for Kroos, Hedlund on for Gogia -- in an effort to reignite the attack. But once Bielefeld grabbed the equalizer, they locked the game down. Union fought hard, but in the end, they just couldn’t regain the lead.

As I already noted, to draw 1-1 away to Bielefeld is a pretty respectable result. But, when it marks your third consecutive draw, and the previous two were to teams that you should and could have beaten, you can’t help but see the match in a less-than-glowing light. Dropping points away to tough opposition is one thing, but in order to be a true contender, you have to win your home games. Union need to strike back against Holstein Kiel with a win tomorrow, or else we’ll need to start asking what needs to change for this team to rise to the top.

Should veteran Michael Parensen -- or perhaps soon to return from injury Fabian Schönheim -- slot into the center of defense in place of Florian Hübner, who despite scoring a last-minute equalizer against Duisburg frequently looks on the verge of getting sent off due to hot-headedness? Does something need to change in midfield so that the ball can more easily get to Andersson on top, such as new signing Zulj getting the start over Kroos? Will the impending return of Sebastian Polter create some healthy competition in the attack and reignite the entire squad?

I have a feeling Fischer will tinker with the squad this week -- you have to if you’re playing on Tuesday following a Saturday match. With only two days off, certain players will need to rest. I am willing to bet Kroos -- who seems to rarely finish a full 90 -- will sit for Zulj, and that one of Gogia or Redondo will sit for Hedlund. But beyond that, it’s hard to say how much he’ll mess with an undefeated side playing at home.