Union with a 4:4 draw against Rangers

The match between 1. FC Union Berlin and Rangers F.C. ended in a 4:4 draw. After six goals had already been scored in the first half, two more were added in the second one. With Janik Haberer, Cyriel Dessers and Tom Lawrence, there were three double-scorers this Saturday.

1. FC Union Berlin: Klaus (46. Stein) – Haberer (46. Trimmel), Jaeckel (46. Querfeld), Doekhi (46. Vogt), Leite (46. Ogbemudia), Gosens (46. Preu) – Kemlein (46. Tousart), Khedira (46. Král), Vertessen (46. Bedia) – Hollerbach (46. Skarke), Siebatcheu (46. Prtajin)

Rangers F.C.: Butland – Tavernier (61st King), Souttar, Davies (80th Balogun), Jefté (70th Ridvan) – Wright, Diomande, Barron, Cortes (61st Matondo) – Lawrence (70th McCausland), Dessers (80th Danilo)

Personnel: Despite the return of the European Championship participants, head coach Bo Svensson did not include these players in today’s squad. In addition, Alexander Schwolow, Jérôme Roussillon and Kevin Volland were still missing through injury.

Spectators: 21,108

Goals: 1:0 Haberer (5‘), 1:1 Dessers (14’), 2:1 Siebatcheu (21‘), 2:2 Lawrence (32’), 2:3 Lawrence (38‘), 3:3 Haberer (41’), 4:3 Preu (60‘), 4:4 Dessers (69’)

Six-goal spectacle – Haberer with a double direct shot

In the first of a total of three friendlies at the Alte Försterei before the start of the season, the visitors from Scotland started very strong and delivered several crosses into the Union penalty area in the opening minutes. However, none of these crosses found the goal. In contrast, the Iron Men took their first chance efficiently and scored the opening goal to make it 1:0. Benedict Hollerbach won the ball on the left and crossed precisely to the second post, where Janik Haberer finished through the keeper’s legs (5th minute).

After the early goal, the Union team made occasional attacking moves and the Scottish record champions skilfully ran the ball through their own ranks, looking for a gap in the Union defence. In the 14th minute, Mohamed Diomandé found it and fed attacker Cyriel Dessers, who beat Carl Klaus for the 1:1.

The game remained intense and just seven minutes later Aljoscha Kemlein was able to set up Yorbe Vertessen with a beautiful pass. The winger left one defender standing before being brought down by the second. Jordan Siebatcheu converted the penalty safely into the bottom right corner to make it 2:1 (21′). However, Rangers had another answer and equalised again through Tom Lawrence. First a shot from Dessers was blocked, but Lawrence put the follow-up shot into the net to make it 2:2 (32nd minute).

Welsh-born Tom Lawrence was still in a scoring mood and put ‘the Gers’ ahead for the first time. In the 38th minute, he curled the ball into the top right-hand corner from around eleven metres to make it 2:3, but the scoring crazyness of the first half was not over yet. Just under three minutes later, Robin Gosens played a powerful diagonal ball into the path of Haberer. The now right-back scored with a direct shot to make it 3:3 and his second goal of the day (41′). Shortly afterwards, the referee brought the first half to a close and the players disappeared into the dressing rooms.

Third Union lead equalised – Preu with first professional goal for the Irons

Although the home side changed their entire team, they carried the attacking momentum from the first half into the second and created a number of scoring opportunities in the first few minutes after the restart, although they were unable to capitalise them. Ivan Prtajin had the best chance early on when his header from a corner missed the post by a hair’s breadth (58′). The third goal for Union was still in the air and that’s exactly what happened: David Preu teamed up with Lucas Tousart and shot from the edge of the six-yard box. His shot, slightly deflected, landed in the far corner to make it 4:3 (60′).

Rangers then became a little more active again, especially in their forward play. This was rewarded by Dessers, who made it 4:4 and also scored a brace (69′). The duel then calmed down on both sides and there were no goalscoring opportunities for the time being. The Union side still managed to get close to scoring on one or two occasions, but no more goals were scored. Referee Florian Lechner ended the match after one minute of stoppage time with the final score of 4:4.

Quotes after the game

‘Offensively, we saw a lot of good things, but defensively it wasn’t so good. When do we press? When do we drop back? That’s still a process. The opposition had huge spaces at the back at times and they punished that straight away. So there’s still room for improvement, but we showed a lot of good things up front in particular – especially compared to the last game,’ said Janik Haberer, who scored twice, analysing the match after the final whistle.

‘It was a very turbulent game with lots of goals. At times we were able to implement the coach’s ideas well, but of course not everything was perfect yet. But we still have time to work on the details. Now it’s off to the training camp where we have to continue to work on coordination and communication’ said debutant Leopold Querfeld afterwards.

‘I’m pleased that everyone has come through without injury. It has been a very intense week for us so far, and you could see that in the players. I’ve seen a lot of good things in some phases of the game, especially with the ball. But we’ve also learnt defensively that you can be punished if your timing isn’t right. But in the end, that’s also a good experience,’ summarised head coach Bo Svensson.

Next steps

The Bundesliga team of 1. FC Union Berlin will be travelling to Neuruppin tomorrow for their second summer training camp – once again presented by sonnenschutz.de. From Monday 29 July to Friday 2 August, the professionals will hold a total of eight training sessions at the MSV Neuruppin football pitch (Alt Ruppiner Allee 56, 16816 Neuruppin). Only 3 training sessions will not be open to the public.

The season opener with both professional teams is scheduled for Saturday, 3 August 2024 at Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Tickets are still available on sale.