1. FC Union Berlin beat Hertha BSC 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal.
A goal after 11 minutes from Andreas Voglsammer set 1. FC Union on their way to success in Charlottenburg. Niklas Stark’s own goal gave Union a two-goal advantage at the start of the second half. While Hertha pulled one back from Rani Khedira’s own goal, Robin Knoche fired home the third seconds later to put Union in the driving seat. Suat Serdar bundled in a consolation goal for Hertha before the 90 minutes were brought to a close.
Urs Fischer’s side go into the hat for the quarter-final draw, which takes place on January 30.
Hertha BSC: Schwolow; Klünter (Pekarik 46), Stark (Gechter 58), Boyata, Mittelstädt; Ascacibar (Boateng 78), Darida (Selke 88), Tousart; Serdar, Belfodil (Maolida 46), Richter
1. FC Union Berlin: Luthe; Ryerson (Trimmel 71), Oczipka, Baumgartl, Knoche, Heintz (Jaeckel 90); Khedira, Prömel, Öztunali (Haraguchi 64); Kruse (Becker 71), Voglsammer (Behrens 64)
After ending Hoffenheim’s seven-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, 1. FC Union Berlin turned their sights to the opportunity in the DFB Pokal. Union haven’t been able to break into the last rounds of the competition since the 2001/02 final appearance – losing to Schalke. But with Borussia Dortmund exiting the competition 24 hours earlier, perhaps there was an opportunity for the Köpenick club. Urs Fischer kept almost the same team as Saturday, but Julian Ryerson replaced Christopher Trimmel, meaning Grischa Prömel took the captain’s armband. The start from Union couldn’t have been much better: 12 seconds into the game and Alexander Schwolow had to turn a shot from Max Kruse behind the post. Schwolow and his defence had little time to settle into the derby as Fischer’s men were fully dominant from the first whistle. On 11 minutes, the ball was in the net after superb combination play between Kruse and Voglsammer before the Union number nine finished with an outstanding bit of play. Levin Öztunali shot over after 19 minutes with Union enjoying the ball in front of 3,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium (200 Union fans). After 30 minutes of the Köpenick club bossing the match, Tayfun Korkut’s side edged slowly into contention. Suat Serdar had made his presence felt with some early challenges but started to make contact with the ball in Union’s defensive third. Lukas Klünter set up the midfielder for a chance but Union protected the one-goal advantage. At the other end, Union were almost given a hand-wrapped present into the quarter-final. Voglsammer’s cross hit Niklas Stark’s hand and referee Deniz Aytekin pointed to the spot. However, after consultation with the video assistant referee Markus Schüller, Voglsammer was flagged for offside in a previous action. Serdar headed wide from a corner kick as Hertha took a boost from the referee’s decision a few minutes earlier. But Schüller was once again involved as he consulted with the officials to chop off an equalising goal from Hertha on the stroke of half time. Belfodil was in an offside position before Serdar beat Andreas Luthe from close range, so the goal didn’t stand.
Vladimir Darida shot over on 48 minutes as the home side looked to get back on level terms. But Union landed a crucial blow on their rivals two minutes later when Niklas Stark turned the ball past Alexander Schwolow. Max Kruse flicked on a header to release Öztunali down the right, the Union number 7 crossing for Voglsammer who would have notched up his second, if the Hertha captain hadn’t got there first. A shot from Serdar struck Rani Khedira on 55 minutes to cut the arrears temporarily. Incredibly, within seconds, Union had restored the two-goal advantage from a free-kick and put Urs Fischer’s side in the driving seat. Bastian Oczipka’s cross beat the Hertha offside trap and Robin Knoche fired home from the centre of the penalty box. Hertha defender Boyata headed wide after the hour mark as the match went from end-to-end. Kevin Behrens and Genki Haraguchi were introduced and Union kept things tight for a period of the second half. Christopher Trimmel and Sheraldo Becker came on with 20 minutes to go, the Dutch winger looking for a similar impact to Saturday’s win over Hoffenheim. Union could have had a fourth but Kevin Behrens’ shot was blocked in a crowded penalty box. Paul Jaeckel was introduced in the closing stages and despite five minutes of stoppage time, the Old Lady got a consolation through Serdar. It was the last action of the game and referee Aytekin blew the final whistle to secure Union’s return for the last eight of the tournament.