Bundesliga: Union Berlin celebrates home win against Cologne
Status: 04/01/2022 10:22 p.m
In the subsequent duel for the European ranks in the Bundesliga, Union Berlin landed a clear victory against 1. FC Köln. A tragic figure at the start of the 28th matchday was FC captain Jonas Hector, who made a bad mistake.
The 1-0 (0-0) of the Berliners on Friday evening (April 1st, 2022) was a little lucky because Cologne had more game shares for a long time. Without goalgetter Anthony Modeste, who was absent due to fever, the Rhinelanders at the Alte Försterei were missing an essential part of their game.
Game control without goal risk
The guests took control of the game fairly early on in the first round. Union surprisingly placed themselves deep in their own half, but had the first big chance (2nd minute) after FC defender Luca Kilian made a mistake through Taiwo Awoniyi. The center forward of the “Eisernen” messed up the first ball contact, so that Marvin Schwäbe was able to clear the Cologne goal.
Immediately afterwards, the guests took control of the midfield again, but without Modeste they didn’t threaten to score. Union countered and could have taken the lead through Sheraldo Becker (26′) and Rani Khedria (35′), but Becker shot too centrally and Khedira narrowly missed the goal.
Bad minutes for Hector
Cologne only became dangerous five minutes before the break. Captain Jonas Hector started on the left flank and, after assisting Dejan Ljubicic, got a good finishing situation, got the ball from a tight angle, but couldn’t get past goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow.
Immediately after half-time it happened for Hector, but it was even worse: completely unchallenged, he played a cross pass just before his own penalty area, which was probably intended for his keeper Schwäbe. The ball starved halfway though, allowing Awoniyi to sprint in between and slot in from nowhere to give Union a 1-0 lead.
Lots of midfield, little penalty area
After that, the game drifted increasingly into insignificance. A lot happened in midfield, but very little in the two penalty areas. From the Berliners’ point of view, that was fine: With the three points, they can overtake their direct competitors and probably continue to dream of being represented internationally again in the coming season.
Cologne is not yet out of the race either, but urgently needs to work on plan B if Modeste is not able to participate: In the second round, Steffen Baumgart’s team only had the first shot on goal in the 95th minute (!), but it was blocked .
Union now required in the derby
For the Unioner, the derby against Hertha is coming up next Saturday (April 9th, 2022), Cologne will have 1. FSV Mainz 05 as their next competitor in the fight for seventh place.
Source: www.sportschau.de