The fans of 1. FC Union sang loudly and they sang for a long time, demonstratively for a long time. “Players, coaches come and go, but my love for you remains,” was the echo throughout the An der Alten Försterei stadium during the round of 16 in the DFB Cup against VfL Wolfsburg. The addressee of these lines was easy to identify, but was probably already on his way back to Spain. Isco’s commitment, which burst on the home straight, was of course the number one topic of conversation in the ranks.
Things went much better for the Berliners on Tuesday than on the transfer market. In front of 22,000 spectators, Union defeated Lower Saxony 2-1 (1-1) with goals from Robin Knoche and Kevin Behrens and, like last year, made it into the quarter-finals.
Union had failed to start the game thoroughly. Less than five minutes had been played before Luca Waldschmidt made it 0-1 after a corner. The Berliners had dealt with deficits very well in the past games and they responded quickly on Tuesday as well.
After a short corner, Josip Juranovic crossed and long-time Wolfsburg player Knoche pushed the ball over the line at the far post. Union was now fully in the game, but clear chances on both sides were rare. Jordan Siebatcheu Pefok had the best, his header smacking the crossbar.
The Berliners opened the second round with a side kick from Niko Gießelmann, who missed the goal by half a meter. After that, it took about 20 minutes for the game to pick up speed again.
At Union, Tunisian newcomer Aissa Laidouni made his debut and introduced himself well with a beautiful body fake. Goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow was also attentive and deflected a shot from Ridle Baku to the side netting.
Slowly, however, it looked like extra time – until in the 79th minute Paul Seguin crossed, Sheraldo Becker headed in the middle and substitute Behrens completed the goal. Gießelmann was thrown off the field shortly before the end for a supposed swallow, but Union did not let the victory be stolen, even when outnumbered.
Source: Tagesspiegel
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
