Matchday 15 Recap: 1. FC Union Berlin 3 - 1 SV Darmstadt 98

Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Hübner, Friedrich, Reichel; Prömel, Schmiedebach, Kroos (Zulj); Abdullahi (Hartel), Andersson, Mees (Parensen)

Darmstadt: Fernandes; Rieder, Franke (Höhn), Sulu, Holland; Medojevic, Jones; Heller, Kempe (Boyd), Wurtz (Mehlem); Dursun

Goals:

Union: Andersson - 28, 42; Sulu (OG) - 65
Darmstadt: Dursun - 73

Union had a lot to celebrate in this game. Source: Union Berlin 

Well, Darmstadt at home, or as I’d like to call it, How Sebastian Andersson Got His Groove Back. At the start of the season, the Swedish striker -- brought in to supplement the Union attack during Sebastian Polter’s lengthy layoff -- was on fire, memorably banging in two goals in a 4-1 demolishing of St. Pauli and netting two more against Köln and Ingolstadt. Yet his output has dwindled in recent weeks, especially once he lost his spot in the starting 11 to the prodigal Polter.

But after a tough game against top-of-the-table Hamburg on Monday, Urs Fischer needed to rest some members of the squad. So, Andersson came back in for Polter, while Felix Kroos returned to the midfield in place of Marcel Hartel. It was a nice opportunity for Andersson to show that he too can provide power and pace to the Union attack, and he delivered on that opportunity when he scored in the 28th minute off a ball from left back Ken Reichel.

Up until Andersson’s goal, the game had been relatively uneventful, which may have been partially due to the Union squad being exhausted after a shorter than usual break between games but was likely primarily due to the fan protests against Monday fixtures taking place across the country. Annoyed about matches being moved to Mondays -- an inconvenient day and time for fans -- just for the sake of television broadcasts, fans decided that for the first halves of every game, they would remain silent.

When raucous fan support is a big selling point for getting people to tune in to your league on television, making the games sound eerily quiet on TV instead is a pretty powerful way to make a statement. Some disagree, arguing that fans should loudly support the team no matter what issue they are trying to protest, but I think in this case, it makes perfect sense to be silent.

Anyways, once Andersson scored his first, it didn’t matter that the normally boisterous stadium was disturbingly quiet -- the team woke up. Shortly before halftime -- as is typical for Union -- Andersson scored again, this time from close range. The ecstatic look on his face was one of someone relieved to finally get off the mark again. Union’s attack can only benefit from a goal-scoring competition between the two Sebastians, so here’s to hoping Andersson’s good form continues.

The increasingly confident Andersson almost rounded off his day with a hat trick, but it turned out that the person who had the final touch on Union’s 65th-minute goal was not Andersson but Darmstadt captain Aytaç Sulu. Nonetheless, a brace isn’t bad for a day’s work, especially when it’s your first start in some time. Andersson now leads Union Berlin with six goals; Polter follows with four. Yes, compared to Köln's goalscoring machine Simon Terodde, who has a whopping 19 goals so far this season, it's not much. But, when your defense is as impenetrable as Union's, it doesn't matter.

The game got slightly nervier after Darmstadt striker Serdar Dursun scored, making the scoreline 3-1 in the 73rd minute. If this were last year’s Union Berlin, I’d be convinced they’d end up blowing the lead and drawing 3-3, likely by conceding at least one penalty for something silly. Nonetheless, old habits die hard; despite the fact that this squad has proven itself capable of holding a lead this season, I still found myself feeling jittery up until the final whistle.

Union now have the promotion playoff spot all to themselves, sitting two points clear of St. Pauli. They travel to Magdeburg this Sunday to take on a team that is also in a playoff spot; unfortunately for them, it is the one involving relegation. Despite away fixtures being notoriously difficult in the 2. Bundesliga -- Union have only won one so far this season, against cellar-dwellers Ingolstadt -- a win against Magdeburg should be doable. Yet it may all come down to who wants it more -- a team desperate to not be relegated against a team hoping that they might be promoted for the first time in their history. And it’s never wise to bet against desperation.