Leipzig ends losing streak
Union Berlin sees red and loses in the “Stadium of Evil”
An early goal conceded in the first half, an early goal conceded in the second half and then a red card: The away trip to Leipzig was not a pleasant one for 1. FC Union Berlin. The Saxons, on the other hand, finally picked up their first Bundesliga points of the year.
At the start of the 90 minutes, the social media team of 1. FC Union Berlin was still in the mood for jokes. “Kick-off in Mordor” they wrote on X, referring to the stadium of Rasenballsport Leipzig, the football division of the Austrian billion-dollar corporation abbreviated to RB. After that, however, there was little that was really funny for the Köpenickers.
Union lost 2-0 (0-1) to Leipzig, who thus collected points for the first time in their fourth Bundesliga appearance of the year and stayed in touch with the Champions League places. “It wasn't an easy phase for us at the start of the year,” said captain Willi Orban on DAZN, “but now we've finally won. We have to keep going like this.” The Iron Ones, on the other hand, are now 15th in the table and only two points ahead of the relegation place after 1. FC Cologne beat Eintracht Frankfurt last night.
Loïs Openda (11th) with his 14th goal of the season and Benjamin Sesko (48th) scored in front of 44,032 spectators to give coach Marco Rose's team the win, with Orban making a successful comeback to the starting eleven after a five-month injury break. Xavi Simons also failed to hit the crossbar (90th+2). Union, which once again had to make do without its suspended head coach Nenad Bjelica and lost captain Christopher Trimmel with a red card in the 73rd minute, remains stuck in the relegation battle. On Wednesday, the “brutally important” (goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow) catch-up game at FSV Mainz 05 is scheduled. “We won't bury our heads in the sand,” promised central defender Kevin Vogt.
Schwolowo replaces Rönnow and holds strong
After the zero-point start to the new year, Rose wanted to give a new impetus with a goalkeeper change, Péter Gulácsi replaced Janis Blaswich and made his first Bundesliga start since October 2022. But the Hungarian was initially unemployed, as Leipzig were in forward gear in the opening phase – and they took the lead early on: After a free kick, the ball came via a detour to Openda, who shot powerfully from a tight angle.
Then, as in other stadiums over the weekend, the match had to be briefly interrupted in the 26th minute due to protests by fans against the German Football League's (DFL) investor deal. Small balls or objects that resembled marbles or rubber balls were thrown onto the pitch from the Union fan block. After the pitch had been cleared of these, referee Marco Fritz continued the match.
The lead gave Rasenballsport a boost. The Köpenickers, who had Belgian Yorbe Vertessen making their debut in attack after the departure of Kevin Behrens, had little going on offense. A harmless header from Vertessen (31') was the first sign of life from Berlin. Union then made the game a little more balanced, but there were initially no dangerous penalty area scenes on either side. Berlin's keeper Alexander Schwolow, who replaced the sick Frederik Rönnow, made a strong save from a header from Sesko (45'+1') shortly before half-time.
Shortly after the break, however, Schwolow was powerless: Sesko easily headed in a free kick from David Raum at the near post. Leipzig stayed close, and Schwolow brilliantly defused a shot from Dani Olmo (53'). Another goal from Sesko was disallowed a little later due to an offside position (58'). Union woke up again and fought against the impending defeat. After the red card against Trimmel, who hit Raum on the ankle with a sliding tackle, the hope of a comeback was dashed. Leipzig managed its first clean sheet since October 28, 2023 in a 6-0 win against Cologne.
