1. FC Union Berlin beat a determined Greifswalder FC, 1-0, in the first round of the DFB Pokal on Saturday afternoon. Yorbe Vertessen made the difference with a superb strike, shortly after coming on in the second half.
1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Haberer (65. Trimmel), Doekhi, Vogt, Querfeld, Gosens – Khedira (90.+1 Kemlein), Schäfer (65. Vertessen), Bénes (80. Tousart) – Hollerbach, Siebatcheu (80. Skarke)
Greifswalder FC: Jakubov – Farr, Eglseder, Hollenbach (81. Kosak), Schmedemann , Engel (69. Griebsch) – Brandt, Daedlow (81. Abu-Alfa), Heil (58. Sanin) – Manske (69. Kratzer) , Benyamina
The starting XI
Bo Svensson started Frederick Rönnow in goal, behind a back three of Leopold Querfeld, in for Diogo Leite, Kevin Vogt and Danilho Doekhi, with Robin Gosens and Janik Haberer on the left and right, either side of Rani Khedira, back from recent sickness, and Andras Schäfer in midfield.
Ahead of them were the attacking triumvirate of Benedict Hollerbach, Jordan Siebatcheu and László Bénes.
Attendance: 4.990
Goals: 0-1 Vertessen (68.),
The hosts have the better chances, but Benes and Schäfer come close in a goalless first half
As the sun shined down on a sold out Volksstadion, on a proper cup tie, this was never going to be a walk in the park for Union. It may have been Bo Svensson’s first competitive game in charge at the club, but it wasn’t exactly his first rodeo. He’d have expected nothing less. And if far from completely satisfied, he did, however, allow himself the chance to say “how nice it was to be back on the touchline” after the final whistle had blown on his side’s progress into the 2nd round of the DFB Pokal.
There was optimism too in the air, from the Unioner packing one of the long curves of the Volksstadion, while the hosts dared to dream of an upset.
And indeed, it was they who started a raucous first half off strongest, with Soufian Benyamina seeing a great chance only a minute in, having been played in by Johannes Manske from the right. Benyamina had spoken of his connections to Union during a busy week, having played in their youth sides a lifetime ago, if better known as the younger brother of Union’s all-time top scorer, Karim. He had a point to prove, and it wasn’t his only attempt. He would flick captain Niklas Brandt’s free kick straight at Rönnow after almost ten minutes.
As smoke hung heavy in the air, a greying haze against the azure blue sky, Manske then should have scored as he suddenly found himself free and baring down on goal, but Robin Gosens did enough to put him off his shot as the chance suddenly opened up for him. The Greifswald player was in again a few minutes later, Vogt getting in the way before he could shoot this time, though Rönnow was well placed for the worst eventuality.
Union countered through Bénes, winning a corner he took himself. Gosens got on the end of it, but saw his shot belted away having been caught up in the crowd. Greifswald, playing five at the back, were determined, sharp in the tackle and looked to break quickly with long balls towards Benyamina and Manske as they drifted wide up top.
On his debut, Ogechika Heil went through the back of Khedira first, then Hollerbach. He got a yellow card on 35 minutes for talking back to the ref after another challenge, but shortly after, his follow up on Hollerbach, sliding in from behind, was perfectly timed.
He embodied the spirit of the hosts in so many ways. They weren’t here for the giggles.
It still took an excellent diving stop from Mike Eglseder to nudge the ball out for a corner as Hollerbach broke up the middle, a hint of a chance suddenly flashing before his eyes, after 20 minutes. Lorenz Hollenbach then repeated the trick, almost strep for step, lunge for lunge, on Benes, though this time the ball went out for a goal kick.
Greifswald had another big chance when Eglseder put a superb header to Rönnow’s right from Niklas Brandt’s corner. He rose well, and got a fine, thumping contact, but it was too close to give the Danish stopper too many worries. Bénes drove just inches over the bar with half an hour played, give or take, with the players having taken a quick breather and a chance for instruction from Svensson, following a knock to Greifswald keeper, Jakub Jakubov.
Gosens brought down Doekhi’s raking, cross-field ball, beating the excellent Jannis Farr on the inside, but again Union’s pressure came to nought and Jakubov remained relatively untroubled with only ten minutes to play, even as Jordan flashed a cross/shot across goal, with Hollerbach racing towards the back post. Or even when, with two minutes time already added on, Schäfer hit a powerful shot first time that crashed off a stray defender’s leg and went out for another corner.
It remained goalless at half time.
Svensson’s changes come good, as Vertessen adds the sparkle.
Svensson made no changes at the break, though he may have had a few choice words. After the final whistle he was full of praise for Greifswald, but said that his side hadn’t found the right connections between attack and defence, particularly in the first half. He said they were “slow in the head”.
Union immediately tried to get on the front foot as Bénes and Khedira combined. Gosens came more central, looking for the ball; Haberer couldn’t get hold of a left-footed volley that flew well over Jakubov’s goal; Hollerbach hit one from 35 yards that cannoned away before it got as far as the six yard box.
Union were now largely in control of things, stepping up, as they played towards their bank of fans, but still the hosts looked to catch them with fast counters. Jacob Engel did well to get down the left, whipping a cross in for Manske that Rönnow punched away at chest height.
But with 25 minutes to play, Svensson made his mark. He brought on Trimmel and Vertessen for Haberer and Schäfer, hoping to inject a little more pace, and a touch more bite from set pieces. It was a masterstroke. Trimmel’s first touch was to whip in a free kick that Jordan headed just over the bar.
But within a couple of minutes everything changed, and it was Vertessen who made the breakthrough with a lovely, bending strike with his left foot that arced past Jakubov. If it wasn’t his first touch, too, then it was pretty damn close to it.
And though Greifswald tried gainfully to get back into things – Benyamina possibly deserved more, trying to snake past Querfeld before crashing a lovely, vicious shot off the bar with 15 minutes to go – Union were now stood firm, with Doekhi’s excellent tackle on substitute Rudolf Sanin up over the half way line, a case in point.
Svensson changed again, with Lucas Tousart and Tim Skarke replacing Bénes and Jordan, and Union pushed on, Eglseder and Brandt both getting in the way as Tousart and Khedira both crashed shots towards goal as chaos suddenly broke out in the box. They high-fived after that, but they needed to make an impact at the other end as the clock wound down. Jakubov parried Hollerbach’s drive over the bar with a little over five minutes to play.
Tousart was in the thick of things, conceding a free kick when Ali Wissam Abu-Alfa marauded into space in the middle. There were frantic calls for a penalty from the home fans when Doekhi put a stop to Corvin Kosak as he tried to turn in the box, but the Dutchman had got enough on the ball for them to be waved away. Doekhi then tackled Abu-Alfa as he attacked down the left this time. Vogt muscled the impressive Kosak off the ball as the clock struck 90 minutes.
Svensson’s final change came into time added on when Aljoscha Kemlein replaced Khedira, but despite Brandt’s entreaties at a throw in for his team-mates to have one final go, Union were home and dry. Even as the rain came with the final whistle.
It hadn’t been the prettiest spectacle on the pitch – ‘We didn’t start the game so well and could well have fallen behind,” said Khedira – but a lot of that was down to the spirit of their hosts. “Of course, we gave everything and had to fight a lot,” he continued. “We addressed a few things again for the second half and did a few things better… in the end we deserved to win.’
“We can’t be completely satisfied with the performance, but the boys know that too,” said Svensson. “We lacked a few things today, but it was good that we got through… The guys from the bench made us better.”
He can still look back on his first competitive win, though. That was the only thing that really counted.