1. FC Union Berlin held RasenBallsport Leipzig to a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon. It was a game in which keeper Frederik Rönnow would take the plaudits, following his 74th minute penalty stop from Lois Openda.
1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Haberer, Doekhi, Vogt, Leite, Rothe (80. Querfeld) – Schäfer (80. Kemlein), Khedira, Bénes (56. Vertessen) – Hollerbach (68. Jeong), Skarke (56. Siebatcheu)
RasenBallsport Leipzig: Gulacsi – Henrichs (79. Baumgartner), Geertruida, Klostermann, Lukeba, Raum – Haidara (66. Vermeeren), Kampl, Xavi – Openda, Sesko (66. Nusa)
The starting XI:
In Bo Svensson’s absence – he was stuck on his sick bed – his co-trainer Babak Keyhanfar sent out Frederik Rönnow in goal behind Union’s usual back three of Diogo Leite, Kevin Vogt and Danilho Doekhi, with Janik Haberer and Tom Rothe on the flanks, left and right, respectively.
Rani Khedira and Andras Schäfer were in midfield, while up top László Bénes and Benedict Hollerbach were to dovetail behind Tim Skarke.
Attendance: 47,800
Leipzig see more of the ball, but fail to test Rönnow in a stuttering first half
Babak Keyhanfar had spoken before this game of the need for all of his players to be at their absolute best for them to get something out of their trip to Leipzig. As he had said that the absence of Bo Svensson shouldn’t be decisive. They are tight, and Svensson has spoken before of his complete faith in his assistant, saying “he’s always got my back, through bad times and good.”
And so it proved. His side were immense in defence all day long, but it was to Frederick Rönnow that the greatest plaudits were due.
But all that was to come. The hosts started off, as expected, on the front foot – as when Xavi Simons tried to slip David Raum in behind Union’s defence, only to see his cross parried by Rönnow as far as Simons who skewed his shot wide – but they were largely toothless in the first half. That they were wasn’t just through their own uncertainty. Union were excellent in their own half, as captain Rani Khedira said after the final whistle, puffing out his cheeks.
“Defensively, we were very compact and very aggressive and did what we set out to do before the game.”
Certainly Union were composed, and superbly organised, and Diogo Leite led the way, showing no fear in pushing up to rob the PSG loanee, Xavi Simons, as did Kevin Vogt, nipping in with his head to get in ahead of Lois Opendia.
As with a fortnight ago against St. Pauli, Union seemed content to wait out the host’s attacks, always with an eye on catching them with a lightning break. And they certainly weren’t scared of the battle. Benedict Hollerbach relished the chance to tussle typically with Castello Lukeba a third of the way into the Leipzig half after Tim Skarke, playing up through the middle, was quick as a flash onto Lukas Klostermann when the Leipzig centre-half seemed to pause for a second on the ball.
Simons went down twice in short succession outside the box with ten minutes played, first under pressure from Doekhi, then Schäfer, but both times was told to get up, and when Openda cut inside from the right, he dragged his shot wide of Rönnow’s near post. He then got a talking to when he barged Leite over with 14 minutes played.
It was a unique occasion, with both head coaches being represented by their assistants, and, when he wasn’t clapping his players on with every completed pass, every neat touch, Keyhanfar had his hands behind his back on the edge of his technical area as play went on, only to rush to its edge when Schäfer brought Openda down in a dangerous position, 25 yards out, to the right.
Simons lofted the ball into the box, but it was flicked away and out for a corner, played short, that Hollerbach did well to cover before Leipzig could spring their trap. It was the kind of move that would sum up Leipzig’s play throughout the first half.
They had most of the ball, but were largely still reduced to shooting from range as 20 minutes was passed, and Rönnow was more than equal to Openda’s left-footed shot; Amadou Haidara did little better ten minutes later when he blazed over from 25 yards; as Rothe and then Doekhi managed to keep cool heads in the crowded box from Simons’ resultant free kick.
Rothe was involved again as he first slid into, stood up and beat, lost the ball to and then tackled Kevin Kampl up on the left with half an hour played. He would loop a header into keeper, Peter Gulacsi’s arms with half time looming having combined with László Bénes.
Still the hosts flickered, but Union were of no mind to be flustered, and Benjamin Henrichs’ shot from the edge of the box, having tricked his way into position, was flicked out for a corner, as was Haidara’s on the stroke of half time. But none of the set-pieces caused Union too much danger, and certainly no cause to panic.
Keyhanfar was down the tunnel in an instant.
Union take the game to their hosts, but Rönnow saves the day
Union started off the second half seeing Janik Haberer’s touch in the box from Bénes’ free kick go out for a corner, and it led to their first real shot on goal as Leite, free near the edge of the box, flicked it with his head straight at Gulacsi. He held his head in his hands, knowing he’d snatched at it, and could maybe have done better with the time he had.
Leipzig countered, but Rönnow was easily able to take Raum’s low cross before it reached Openda, chasing into the box. But the game couldn’t get going, and as Hollerbach looked to burst through, Haidara dealt a nasty blow on Khedira, going over the ball on Union’s captain – as Hollerbach would have a nasty clash with Henrichs ten minutes into the half.
Simons then stabbed the ball wide when played in by Kampl, but that was only the cue for Keyhanfar to make his first changes, Skarke and Bénes being replaced by Jordan and Yorbe Vertessen before the hour was up.
Vertessen almost made an immediate impact, hitting a corner into the box where Rothe drew a fingertip stop from Gulacsi, acrobatically pushing the ball over the bar. Leite then drew another save from the keeper with the next one, this time diving to his left.
Union now drove forwards, Hollerbach drawing two sliding tackles from Klostermann in a row, and the game opened up a little, as Leite stepped up, and as Rothe immediately snuffed out the danger of Benjamin Sesko, attacking the inside right. Sesko would see another chance cleared easily with 65 minutes played, as Doekhi, this time, was in the right place at just the right time to clear.
Leipzig were pushing Union back again, starting to play with a little more pace and intent, but they kept coming up against a brick wall, whether Doekhi, Vogt or Leite, or a Haberer who gave the ball away with a misplaced, outside of the boot pass, but chased back to make up for the mistake in the flash of an eye.
Soon enough Hollerbach had come off for Wooyeong Jeong, coming in on the left behind Jordan. But for all Union’s defiance, it seemed as if fate had something else in mind for the Berliners.
Openda ran at Vogt in the box, and Union’s central defender seemed to time his slide perfectly, but the Leipzig man tumbled over, nonetheless. It seemed slight, but the referee pointed to the spot immediately. But here was only the beginning of the mental game. Kampl got a yellow card for getting in the Dane’s face as all hell broke loose in the box, but Rönnow never batted an eyelid.
Openda himself took the spot-kick, but he hit it weakly, as if spooked, to Rönnow’s right, as the keeper went the right way, tipping the ball away before it could creep in the inside of his right-hand post. Rönnow said after the final whistle, “Of course we talked about the potential penalty takers beforehand. In the end, it was the right corner and so I’m very happy that I was able to save the penalty,” but, as is his style, he was playing down his brilliance.
His strength is astonishing, as his patience and concentration. He hadn’t taken his eye off the ball the whole way through.
The over 4,000 Unioner erupted in their end, and Union broke immediately back, Vertessen, dragging a shot across goal and wide of the back post. Jeong and Jordan combined beautifully with Rothe out on the left; Haberer then saw a shot fly out for another corner that Leite headed just over the bar.
The Portuguese has been getting closer and closer to his first goal of the season, but still, it just wouldn’t come. Though his tackle on Simons on the halfway line with just a couple of minutes to go was a thing of majesty.
Union’s final changes had come with ten minutes to play, and everything still up for grabs, Aljoscha Kemlein and Leopold Querfeld replacing Rothe and Schäfer, and by then Union looked just as likely to score the decisive goal as Leipzig. Vertessen and Jordan played a lightning one-two; Jeong flickered from left to right and back again.
It was to be Rönnow who would make the difference again though, as he dived to his right to save Raum’s free kick with four minutes time added on to be played. The ball was clipped, bending towards goal, but the Dane wasn’t to be beaten, not today. He was unflappable.
The final whistle came with the sight of Rönnow being hugged by his team-mates and his coaches. Keyhanfar applauded and would make the rounds of all his players who had fought so hard as they stood on the pitch of the rapidly emptying stadium. His great Dane had saved him a more than deserved point.