Matchday 17 Recap: 1. FC Union Berlin 2 - 0 VfL Bochum 1848

Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Parensen, Reichel (Ryerson); Zulj, Schmiedebach, Hartel; Mees (Gogia), Polter, Abdullahi (Andersson)

Bochum: Riemann; Hoogland, Soares, Gyamerah, Fabian; Losilla, Tesche; Sam (Saglam), Weilandt, Lee; Hinterseer

Goals:

Union: Polter - 60; Zulj - 87

Polter the penalty-winner and taker. Source: Union Berlin 

It was another relatively unimpressive display for Union Berlin on Saturday, yet it’s hard to complain when the team still came away with three points and ended the first round of fixtures -- known as the Hinrunde -- undefeated for the first time in their history.

Yes, a whopping ten of their seventeen matches this season have ended in draws, and it’s worth noting that in some of those draws, they were lucky to scrape by with a point. Yet Union’s ability to turn losses into draws and wins even when they look largely mediocre over the course of 90 minutes is one worth celebrating, especially since last year, as we all know, they all too frequently turned wins into draws and losses.

As Union Berlin enter the second round of fixtures -- the Rückrunde -- in third place behind Hamburg and Köln, it’s not too outlandish to think that this team’s never-say-die attitude and refusal to give up even when down a goal could be what finally gets them into the top flight. After all, Union took Dortmund -- by far the best team in Germany this season -- to extra time in the DFB-Pokal; who’s to say they can’t beat relegation fodder (not to mention former 2. Bundesliga foes) like Nürnberg and Düsseldorf in a two-legged promotion playoff?

I’m getting ahead of myself, yes, but there’s no better time than the holidays to reflect on the season so far and look forward to what’s yet to come. And it’s also much more pleasant to think about than what went on for the majority of the 90 minutes against Bochum this past weekend.

Urs Fischer made a few changes to the lineup, one by necessity: with Florian Hübner the latest member of the Union squad to be suspended due to yellow card accumulation, veteran defender and Second Division Heartthrob Michael Parensen stepped back into the center of defense. In addition, Sebastian Polter replaced Sebastian Andersson up top while Marcel Hartel slipped in for Felix Kroos in midfield.

The first half was largely controlled by Bochum, with the visiting team having the majority of the chances; Union are clearly still feeling the absence of Grischa Prömel in midfield. After goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz went down to make one of his usual impressive saves, his knee collided with the goalpost. I’m pretty sure that even the most iron-willed of Unioners felt their hearts jump into their throats as Gikiewicz clutched his leg in pain on the ground. The medical staff ran out, and Jakub Busk began warming up on the sidelines, but in the end, Gikiewicz was fine -- indeed, fine enough to secure his seventh clean sheet of the season.

Union came out with more energy in the second half, but nonetheless, it took a penalty won and scored by Polter for the home side to finally break the deadlock. There has been some debate as to whether or not Polter went down too heavy in the box for the penalty, but I would argue that when you’re as gigantic as Sebastian Polter, it’s too far down to the ground to throw yourself around lightly. (Seriously, though, he earned it fair and square.)

Calm and collected, Polter’s perfect penalty marked his fifth goal of the season in the league. Looking for a second to better secure the win, Fischer brought on Andersson for Abdullahi and switched things up into a 4-4-2. Yet the game was put to bed in the 85th minute not by either Sebastian, but by someone who scored his first in Union colors: Robert Zulj. The on-loan midfielder had a quality game overall, so it was nice to see his efforts rewarded with a goal.

So, another home win for Union Berlin in the books. The team travel to 12th-place Erzgebirge Aue to begin the Rückrunde and round out 2018 before taking a break for the holidays. Union barely managed to beat Aue 1-0 at home in the first match of the season, but that was before the various new members of the squad began to gel -- and, most importantly, before Polter returned from injury. A rare away win would be a proper early Christmas gift for Unioners.