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1. FC Union Berlin return to league business after the international break with a home match on Saturday against Augsburg.
Review: The last match
1. FC Union Berlin won 2-1 at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei to continue the excellent start to the campaign. Niko Gießelmann doubled his tally for Union Berlin, heading the Köpenick club into the lead on 22 minutes. After a bright start in his second season in Union colours, Taiwo Awoniyi celebrated one of his highlights at the club. The Nigerian striker ran almost the length of the pitch, holding the ball up before eventually combining wonderfully with Max Kruse and slotting past Yann Sommer. Borussia Mönchengladbach returned from the interval with something to prove after a difficult start to Adi Hütter’s team’s season. Andreas Luthe was kept on his toes, but as Union settled back into the contest, Urs Fischer’s side may have felt the game could have been put to bed. Gießelmann headed wide on the hour mark from a free-kick while Max Kruse’s shot was deflected from a good position. Jonas Hofmann netted in stoppage time to make it a nervy conclusion to proceedings, but the three points were added to Union’s account.
Augsburg: Opposition Report
Markus Weinzierl is back at FC Augsburg, the architect of their biggest successes over the last decade. The 46-year-old coached Augsburg between 2012 and 2016, winning promotion to the Bundesliga, The Manager of the Year in 2013 and securing European qualification for the Reds. Three games into the 2021/22 Bundesliga season and Augsburg have one point to their name – a 0-0 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. Sandwiched on either side are two heavy defeats to Leverkusen and Hoffenheim. Augsburg conceded three goals in the last 12 minutes against Hoffenheim but were competitive on the opening weekend. The last home game at the WWK Arena in Augsburg went end-to-end against Leverkusen who shared the spoils with Union on MD1. Two own goals from Iago and Florian Niederlechner put Augsburg behind, while the striker cut the deficit before the break. Patrick Schick and Florian Wirtz added to the scoring late on to give Leverkusen all three points.
Augsburg: The coach’s view
Fischer: “If it is all about points, then it hasn’t been an optimal start. I have seen watched all of their games so far. The matches against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim were right, the goals towards the end of these games made the difference bigger. We have to prepare for this as best as possible. We weren’t able to pick up points from the meetings last season.”
Personnel
Urs Fischer’s squad is at full health, with Union’s international stars returning without any knocks. Tymoteusz Puchacz is the last to return following Poland’s 1-1 draw with England in World Cup qualification.
Service
Information for supporters attending the match can be found here.
