Matchday 19 Recap - 1. FC Union Berlin 2 - 0 1. FC Köln

FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Hübner, Reichel (Sent off); Schmiedebach, Prömel, Kroos (Lenz); Hartel, Polter (Andersson), Abdullahi (Parensen)

FC Köln: Horn; Czichos, Mere, Schmitz (Sorensen); Kainz, Hauptmann (Horn), Geis, Drexler, Risse (Clemens); Cordoba, Terrode

Goals:

Union Berlin: Hartel - 1; Hübner - 30 

Hartel scores the craziest goal ever against his hometown club. Source: Navva 

And a happy new year to you too! Union Berlin appeared rested and refreshed when they took the field at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei to face Köln on Thursday evening. Just before the Christmas break, Union’s unlikely unbeaten run finally came to an altogether ignominious end via a 3-0 shellacking away at Aue. But after some holiday rest with family and friends -- not to mention a training camp in sunny Spain -- Union Berlin looked like an altogether different team than the one that just appeared too exhausted to hold their own by the end of 2018.

Union bid farewell to two members of the squad during the break: Kenny Prince Redondo moved to Greuther Fürth while Simon Hedlund departed for Denmark’s Brøndby IF. The departure of these two wingers opened up room for Köln native Marcel Hartel to start on the wing alongside striker Sebastian Polter and winger Suleiman Abdullahi.

Now, Hartel spent more of the first half of the season starting further back in the midfield or not starting at all. Moving Hartel further forward in the formation ensured that there was room in the starting eleven for Hartel as well as midfielders Felix Kroos and Grischa Prömel, resulting in what I firmly believe is the strongest possible squad at Urs Fischer’s disposal.

To be sure, a strong squad was always going to be necessary against Köln, who currently sit second in the 2. Bundesliga table, behind Hamburg and ahead of St. Pauli in the third-place playoff promotion spot. Heading into this game, Union was in fourth; a win would go a long way towards closing the gap on the teams at the top. Nor was a win totally out of the question after Union managed to secure a difficult point away at the RheinEnergieStadion back in August.

The decision to start Hartel on the wing paid immediate dividends for Union - and that is no exaggeration. Before the game had even hit the one minute mark, Abdullahi pounded a long ball across the pitch to Hartel, who caught it on his chest, bumped it down and took one of the ballsiest overhead kicks I have ever seen. Timo Horn didn’t stand a chance -- the ball smashed into the back of the net and Union took the lead early in impressive fashion. It was Hartel's first goal of the season, and is there a better way to score your first goal of the season than with a crazy bicycle kick? I think not.

Union came out strong, but as the first half wore on Köln started to get more into the match. Perhaps they had didn’t anticipate how hard Union would come out swinging and were caught off guard by the intensity of the home side, but after the events of August, one would think they’d have known better than to underestimate Union Berlin.

Union’s defense, anchored as usual by goalkeeper hero Rafał Gikiewicz and the center-back pairing of Marvin Friedrich and Florian Hübner, ensured that their goal remained empty despite Köln having increased possession and chances. Still, things were looking pretty nervy up until the half-hour mark. That was when Christopher Trimmel took one of his characteristically perfect corner kicks and Hübner headed it powerfully into the bottom corner of the net. Now the scoreline was 2-0, giving Union a little more room to breathe.

Or so they thought. The game took an unpleasant turn right before halftime when striker Sebastian Polter made a gesture with his hands that likely made every Union fan’s heart sink into their stomachs: he needed a sub due to a foot injury. (The other Sebastian, Andersson, took his place.).

Polter is a remarkable player and one of Union’s most prominent leaders on the pitch; for him to face another injury layoff is heartbreaking for both the man and the team, who only just recently got him back after many months out after rupturing his Achilles tendon. Here’s to hoping this injury is not as serious and that his early substitution was more of a precaution than anything.

The second half of the game grew increasingly chippy as Köln grew increasingly desperate for a goal. The repeated fouls eventually led to a second yellow card for left back Ken Reichel in the 65th minute, which I was honestly surprised to learn was his first-sending off of the season seeing how frequently Union’s defense foul their opponents.

Fellow left back Christopher Lenz immediately came on for Felix Kroos in order to help shore up the defense, while veteran center back Michael Parensen - who just celebrated a decade at Union Berlin - came on in the 82nd minute for Abdullahi to further protect the lead. In the end, despite having to fight for nearly half an hour with only ten men, Union secured what might be their most impressive win of the season so far.

Union looked every bit the match for Köln for the majority of the game, and that’s no small feat seeing as Köln remain promotion favorites. However, their next challenge is almost as big, and comes up pretty fast: an away game at St. Pauli on Monday night. Union are level with St. Pauli on points and, after their win against Köln, have now edged them out for the third place playoff spot on goal difference. If Union can win away at St. Pauli, it will go a long way towards keeping the promotion dream alive.