Matchday 11: 1. FSV Mainz 05 2-3 1. FC Union Berlin
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| Is it weird that this is my favorite Union kit this season? source: Union Berlin. |
1. FSV Mainz 05: Zentner; Brosinski, Martin (Burkhart), St. Juste, Niakhate; Boetius (Onisiwo), Fernandes, Baku; Öztunali (Maxim), Quaison, Szalai
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Schlotterbeck (Parensen), Friedrich, Subotic; Lenz, Trimmel, Gentner, Andrich, Ingvartsen; Polter (Kroos), Andersson (Ujah)
Goals:
Mainz: Onisiwo (81), Brosinski (90+4)
Union: Brosinski OG (30), Andersson (45+3, 51)
As we head into the November international break, things have started to shape up nicely for Union Berlin. They’ve won four of their last five games across all competitions, and the one loss was 2-1 away at Bayern -- a much less ignominious defeat than many bigger clubs have suffered at the Allianz. Those four wins include a DFB-Pokal tie away at Freiburg that sees them face Regionalliga side Verl in the next round. They sit in 11th place in the table, one spot above Hertha, cementing their status as Stadtmeister. And, their goal differential has shrunk to a relatively respectable -4; the only matches they’ve lost by more than one goal all season are the opening day drubbing to Leipzig and a 2-0 loss at Leverkusen.
Overall, Union appear to be finally getting into a groove in the top flight, and while it’s too soon to say that they’ll manage to stay up, it’s clear that they aren’t too far off the pace when it comes to the big dogs of the Bundesliga. Not only that, but there are a plethora of other clubs who seem determined to tank this year -- not that I blame them, seeing as the 2. Bundesliga is the best league in the world -- and so as long as they continue to lose more frequently and embarrassingly than Union, Urs Fischer’s side should be secure for next season.
One of the teams who seem startlingly hopeless this year is Mainz. Promoted after finishing second in the 2. Bundesliga in 2009, the “carnival club” has managed to outperform its limited resources to stay up -- and occasionally even qualify for Europa League -- over the past decade. However, it appears that Mainz’s time may be starting to run out. A series of disappointing performances, culminating in an 8-0 loss to Leipzig, ensured that Mainz would be desperate for a win upon Union’s visit to the Opel Arena.
Urs Fischer made one change to the team that beat Hertha in the derby the week prior, slotting in penalty-scorer and match hero Sebastian Polter for Marius Bülter on the wing. After all, why mess around with what worked? And indeed, Union came out swinging in the early minutes against Mainz, even dominating possession -- something that normally doesn’t happen in an Union game (though, as we’ll see, it didn’t last).
Yet the first half could have unfolded a lot differently if Robert Andrich had been sent off around the fifth minute for quite the reckless challenge on Mainz’s Adam Szalai. A late slide with studs up could have easily equalled red, especially if referee Harms Osmers had bothered to go to VAR. But he didn’t, instead opting to give Andrich his fifth yellow card of the season. This means that Andrich, who has played every minute in the league so far this season, will be suspended for Union’s home game against top-of-the-table Borussia Monchengladbach on the other side of the international break (yikes).
After breathing a sigh of relief, Union went on to have several chances in front of goal that they bungled in typically wasteful Union fashion; certain members of the squad who aren’t used to finding themselves open in front of goal seem to lose their heads entirely when presented with a scoring opportunity (hi, Lenz). But at the half-hour mark, the team was finally rewarded for their nonstop pressure on an increasingly frantic and fragile Mainz team with an own goal. A typically perfect Christopher Trimmel cross at first appeared to have found the back of the net courtesy of Ingvartsen, but the goal was eventually credited to Mainz captain Daniel Brosinski.
Shortly after the goal, Keven Schlotterbeck left the pitch, unable to continue after a ball to the face left him staggering around with tissues shoved up his bloody nose. He was replaced by the legendary Michael Parensen, and while it’s always nice to see Parensen take the field, one hopes that Schlotterbeck isn’t suffering from a concussion from the impact.
Right on the verge of halftime is usually when Union would allow a late equalizer to make the second half much more stressful than necessary. Instead, a Trimmel corner kick found the head of Sebastian Andersson, who headed home for his fourth goal of the season.
Heading down the tunnel 2-0 up away from home, when Union had not won away in the league since March 1 against Holstein Kiel? Against a team that seemed determined to leak as many goals as possible, and who promptly booted the ball into the stands every time they ended up in front of Rafal Gikiewicz? There was a lot to feel confident about going into the second half.
And yet, perhaps the team felt a little too confident. Or perhaps it was just Mainz’s desperation to get a point at home at all costs finally starting to reap rewards. Nonetheless, the second half ended up being much nervier than it had any right to be, and at full time both Urs Fischer and Rafal Gikiewicz appeared the angriest I’ve ever seen either of them after a game that the team ended up winning.
But before things got a bit bad, they got a lot better, as Union Berlin scored the exact same goal that they had on the verge of halftime again to make the scoreline 3-0. That marked a hat trick of assists for Christopher Trimmel, whose set-piece prowess remains some of the most impressive in the league. Alas, the game did not end with such a comfortable scoreline.
In the 81st minute, Mainz finally found the back of the net courtesy of sub Karim Onisiwo. From there, things began to unravel. Mainz threw everything they had into the attack in the hope that they could wheedle the deficit down further, and sure enough, they were rewarded in extra time when Brosinski scored, earning himself a bit of redemption for his own goal error earlier.
Gikiewicz’s eyes, which always have a touch of the crazy to them, were positively bulging out of his head as his clean sheet was utterly annihilated in barely ten minutes of playing time. The final minute of stoppage time was practically heartstopping, but in the end, Union held on and escaped the Opel Arena with all three points.
The first 80 minutes of the match were pure quality from Union, but two things threatened to result in them throwing the points away: carelessness in front of goal early in the match and carelessness in defense towards the end. If Union had put away more chances earlier in the game, the scoreline would have provided even more safety as the game entered its final moments; consequently, if the defense had remained on guard for the full 90 the game wouldn’t have ended on such an unpleasant note.
Urs Fischer has the international break, including a friendly against Holstein Kiel, to address these weaknesses before they face the league leaders. And with only Trimmel and Andersson departing for international duty, he’ll have almost the entire squad at his disposal. Union managed to step up their game following the last international break; here’s hoping they can do the same come November 23.
Overall, Union appear to be finally getting into a groove in the top flight, and while it’s too soon to say that they’ll manage to stay up, it’s clear that they aren’t too far off the pace when it comes to the big dogs of the Bundesliga. Not only that, but there are a plethora of other clubs who seem determined to tank this year -- not that I blame them, seeing as the 2. Bundesliga is the best league in the world -- and so as long as they continue to lose more frequently and embarrassingly than Union, Urs Fischer’s side should be secure for next season.
One of the teams who seem startlingly hopeless this year is Mainz. Promoted after finishing second in the 2. Bundesliga in 2009, the “carnival club” has managed to outperform its limited resources to stay up -- and occasionally even qualify for Europa League -- over the past decade. However, it appears that Mainz’s time may be starting to run out. A series of disappointing performances, culminating in an 8-0 loss to Leipzig, ensured that Mainz would be desperate for a win upon Union’s visit to the Opel Arena.
Urs Fischer made one change to the team that beat Hertha in the derby the week prior, slotting in penalty-scorer and match hero Sebastian Polter for Marius Bülter on the wing. After all, why mess around with what worked? And indeed, Union came out swinging in the early minutes against Mainz, even dominating possession -- something that normally doesn’t happen in an Union game (though, as we’ll see, it didn’t last).
Yet the first half could have unfolded a lot differently if Robert Andrich had been sent off around the fifth minute for quite the reckless challenge on Mainz’s Adam Szalai. A late slide with studs up could have easily equalled red, especially if referee Harms Osmers had bothered to go to VAR. But he didn’t, instead opting to give Andrich his fifth yellow card of the season. This means that Andrich, who has played every minute in the league so far this season, will be suspended for Union’s home game against top-of-the-table Borussia Monchengladbach on the other side of the international break (yikes).
After breathing a sigh of relief, Union went on to have several chances in front of goal that they bungled in typically wasteful Union fashion; certain members of the squad who aren’t used to finding themselves open in front of goal seem to lose their heads entirely when presented with a scoring opportunity (hi, Lenz). But at the half-hour mark, the team was finally rewarded for their nonstop pressure on an increasingly frantic and fragile Mainz team with an own goal. A typically perfect Christopher Trimmel cross at first appeared to have found the back of the net courtesy of Ingvartsen, but the goal was eventually credited to Mainz captain Daniel Brosinski.
Shortly after the goal, Keven Schlotterbeck left the pitch, unable to continue after a ball to the face left him staggering around with tissues shoved up his bloody nose. He was replaced by the legendary Michael Parensen, and while it’s always nice to see Parensen take the field, one hopes that Schlotterbeck isn’t suffering from a concussion from the impact.
Right on the verge of halftime is usually when Union would allow a late equalizer to make the second half much more stressful than necessary. Instead, a Trimmel corner kick found the head of Sebastian Andersson, who headed home for his fourth goal of the season.
Heading down the tunnel 2-0 up away from home, when Union had not won away in the league since March 1 against Holstein Kiel? Against a team that seemed determined to leak as many goals as possible, and who promptly booted the ball into the stands every time they ended up in front of Rafal Gikiewicz? There was a lot to feel confident about going into the second half.
And yet, perhaps the team felt a little too confident. Or perhaps it was just Mainz’s desperation to get a point at home at all costs finally starting to reap rewards. Nonetheless, the second half ended up being much nervier than it had any right to be, and at full time both Urs Fischer and Rafal Gikiewicz appeared the angriest I’ve ever seen either of them after a game that the team ended up winning.
But before things got a bit bad, they got a lot better, as Union Berlin scored the exact same goal that they had on the verge of halftime again to make the scoreline 3-0. That marked a hat trick of assists for Christopher Trimmel, whose set-piece prowess remains some of the most impressive in the league. Alas, the game did not end with such a comfortable scoreline.
In the 81st minute, Mainz finally found the back of the net courtesy of sub Karim Onisiwo. From there, things began to unravel. Mainz threw everything they had into the attack in the hope that they could wheedle the deficit down further, and sure enough, they were rewarded in extra time when Brosinski scored, earning himself a bit of redemption for his own goal error earlier.
Gikiewicz’s eyes, which always have a touch of the crazy to them, were positively bulging out of his head as his clean sheet was utterly annihilated in barely ten minutes of playing time. The final minute of stoppage time was practically heartstopping, but in the end, Union held on and escaped the Opel Arena with all three points.
The first 80 minutes of the match were pure quality from Union, but two things threatened to result in them throwing the points away: carelessness in front of goal early in the match and carelessness in defense towards the end. If Union had put away more chances earlier in the game, the scoreline would have provided even more safety as the game entered its final moments; consequently, if the defense had remained on guard for the full 90 the game wouldn’t have ended on such an unpleasant note.
Urs Fischer has the international break, including a friendly against Holstein Kiel, to address these weaknesses before they face the league leaders. And with only Trimmel and Andersson departing for international duty, he’ll have almost the entire squad at his disposal. Union managed to step up their game following the last international break; here’s hoping they can do the same come November 23.
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