Matchday 4: 1. FC Union Berlin 1 - 2 SV Werder Bremen

All hail our Swedish King, who now has three goals in four matches. source: Union Berlin

1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Subotic, Lenz; Gentner (Abdullahi), Andrich; Bülter, Becker (Gogia); Andersson, Ujah (Polter)

Werder Bremen: Pavlenka; Friedl, Groß, Gebre Selassie, Lang; J. Eggestein (Pizarro), Sahin, Klaassen, Osako (Sargent); Bittencourt (Goller), Füllkrug

Goals:
Union Berlin: Andersson (14)
Werder Bremen: Klassen (5), Füllkrug (55)

If you had told me before the match that Werder Bremen’s visit to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei would have been one of the most intense fixtures of the season thus far, I would have been...well, confused, mostly. Union and Werder do not share a particularly robust history, they aren’t located anywhere near each other in Germany, and they aren’t necessarily going to be rivals to avoid relegation. And yet, despite the dearth of reasons for there to be any more drama than your average Bundesliga fixture between these two teams, let’s look at the match after the fact by the numbers:

3 - number of penalties awarded during the match

1 - number of penalties saved during the match 

2 - number of red cards awarded during the match

36 - number of fouls committed during the match (!!!) 

It was a wild, physical affair that involved numerous interventions by VAR, several handballs and even more shouts for penalties than were actually given by a referee who was clearly out of his depth. I don’t know what was in the water in Köpenick on Saturday but part of me thinks it was have been whatever virus created those speedy rage monsters masquerading as zombies in 28 Days Later because that was how members of both squads behaved during the match. (Alas, Cillian Murphy was nowhere to be seen.)

Urs Fischer stuck mostly to the same side that shocked Dortmund 3-1 prior to the international break, with one exception: Christian Gentner returned from injury and took the place of Manuel Schmiedebach in midfield. I don't want to criticize Gentner, who is an experienced, title-winning player, but I do think Schmiedebach -- also greatly experienced -- is a better fit for this particular squad. Which makes sense, seeing as he played almost every match for Union last season and was a big part of the 2. Bundesliga-best defense that allowed only 33 goals on their way to promotion. But when Gentner is on the field, I barely notice him. When Schmiedebach is there, he is always in the thick of the action -- often committing fouls and picking up yellow cards, to be sure, but someone has to do the dirty work, right?

That being said, even without Schmiedebach on the pitch, dirty work was the name of the game against Werder on Saturday. After a mere two minutes, Werder captain and orc stunt double Davy Klaassen hit the ground inside the Union box. After a lengthy VAR deliberation, a penalty was awarded, which Klaassen promptly slotted past Gikiewicz. This would not be the last time referee Tobias Welz would turn to VAR for assistance during the match, and in fact, this worked to Union’s advantage a little more than ten minutes later, when a handball in the box resulted in a penalty being awarded to Union. Sebastian Andersson stepped up and scored cool as you like, and with only 15 minutes gone, the match was level once again. 

Not only was the scoreline level, but the quality of both sides appeared to be as well. Despite the disappointing scoreline at the end of the match (more on that later), Union held their own against Werder and appeared to be the equal of the longstanding top-flight side for the majority of the match. And yet, to have dropped these points at home is still a great disappointment. Every point counts when you are fighting to stay up, especially at home and especially when your home has a reputation for being a fortress like the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. If this game had happened away from home, I would have shrugged my shoulders. For it to have happened in Berlin gives the blow just a smidge of an extra sting.

The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with the scoreline still level. But, in the 54th minute, yet another penalty was awarded to Werder, this time for a bit of shirt-pulling in the box courtesy of Union captain Christopher Trimmel. However, this time Klaassen’s strike was palmed powerfully out of the way by Gikiewicz. Yet before Union fans even had a chance to properly celebrate, the resulting Werder corner kick had been taken and Füllkrug and headed it past Gikiewicz to make the scoreline 2-1. An incredible disappointment, especially following Gikiewicz’s heroics. 

From here, the match proceeded to become a prime display of toxic masculinity, as both teams seemed more focused on committing fouls and crying for penalties than they did on actually playing soccer. Sebastian Polter and Akaki Gogia came on for Anthony Ujah and Sheraldo Becker, respectively, while Suleiman Abdullahi replaced Gentner to give the squad an extra attacking boost. All three subs gave the side a much-needed lift out of the mire that the match had become, but that wasn’t to last long. 

Neven Subotic, one of the most popular and least problematic men in the sport, who in a lengthy Bundesliga career had only been sent off once before -- truly remarkable considering that he plays center back -- was given a second yellow for a tackle on Leo Bittencourt in the 89th minute. Subotic being sent off means that Keven Schlotterbeck will likely return to the center of Union’s backline alongside Marvin Fredrich for the away match against Leverkusen next Saturday, and needless to say that does not fill me with confidence. 

At this point, it became woefully clear that Welz had lost control of the match -- nay, that he never even had control of the match. The guy started relying on VAR to do his work for him in the 2nd minute and from there failed to impose any kind of authority on the game. He then realized all too late that he needed to step in and do something before the players on both sides got out of control. Sending off Subotic might have been an attempt to get the players to calm down before the game entered its final minutes, but it didn’t help; if anything, it riled them up further. 

Only a couple minutes after Subotic's exit, Werder midfielder Nuri Sahin -- another experienced player with hardly any history of suspension across a lengthy career -- was given his marching orders. Sahin then proceeded to lurk on the edge of the sideline for the rest of the match, either unaware or just uncaring about the typical protocol for receiving a red card. (That both Subotic and Sahin previously played together for Borussia Dortmund added yet another note of absurdity to the proceedings.) 

With both teams on ten men and many minutes of added time tacked onto the clock, Union came close to tying up the match but seemed more focused on trying to wheedle another penalty out of Welz than scoring from open play. Union are currently 12th in the Bundesliga standings, a spot that most Union fans would bite your hand off to be in at the end of the season (especially seeing as Hertha Berlin are currently rock bottom). 

And yet, to have only taken three points from three home fixtures to start the season is rather disheartening. Based on the quality of play of both sides -- that is when they were focused on playing -- Union could have and should have taken at least a point against Werder. Yet a few silly mistakes here and there cost them -- and if they keep making these kinds of errors it could cost them enough points to keep them from staying up.

Despite the shenanigans of the two teams, there was a lot to admire from both sets of fans at the game. In protest of plans to sell the naming rights to Werder’s Weserstadion, each team held up a banner in support of the other team’s stadium. “Always Stadion An der Alten Försterei” read the Bremen fans’ banner, while the Union fans’ read, “Keep stadiums’ names! Always Weserstadion.” It was a nice show of unity between two fan bases who, despite the differences on the pitch, share the same values -- including remaining opposed to the excessive commerciality that threatens to destroy what makes the Bundesliga so special. 

Union Berlin and Werder Bremen fans unite against the corporate renaming of stadiums with sponsors’ names.
Always „Stadion an der Alten Försterei,“ say Bremen.
Keep stadiums’ names! Always „Weser-Stadion,“ say Union fans. #fcusvw pic.twitter.com/EOucDv3fXj

— Ciarán Fahey (@cfaheyAP) September 14, 2019

 Lee Jutton is a contributing writer and co-founder of Eisern NYC. She lives on Twitter @leiladaisyj.