Leipzig ends losing streak
Union Berlin sees red and loses in the “stadium of evil”
February 4, 2024, 7:25 p.m
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 is not very pleasant for 1. FC Union Berlin. The Saxons, on the other hand, finally get their first Bundesliga points this year.
At the beginning of the 90 minutes, the 1. FC Union Berlin social media team still felt like having fun. They wrote “Kick-off in Mordor” on After that, there was little that was really funny for the Köpenickers.
Union lost 2-0 (0-1) to Leipzig, who collected points for the first time in their fourth Bundesliga appearance of the year and maintained their place in the Champions League. “It wasn’t an easy phase for us at the beginning of the year,” said captain Willi Orban on DAZN, “but now we have finally won. We have to keep going like this.” The Iron Men, on the other hand, are 15th in the table. are now just two points ahead of the relegation place after 1. FC Köln 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 win for coach Marco Rose’s team, in which Orban made a successful starting eleven comeback after a five-month injury break. Xavi Simons also failed to hit the crossbar (90+2). Union, which 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. The “brutally important” (goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow) catch-up game at FSV Mainz 05 is on Wednesday. “We won’t bury our heads in the sand,” promised central defender Kevin Vogt.
Schwowowo replaces Rönnow and holds strong
After the zero-point start to the new year, Rose wanted to give new impetus with a goalkeeper change, Péter Gulácsi replaced Janis Blaswich and made his first Bundesliga starting eleven appearance since October 2022. But the Hungarian was initially unemployed because Leipzig were in the Initial phase in forward gear – and they took the lead early: After a free kick, the ball came via a detour to Openda, who shot in powerfully from a tight angle.
Then, as in other stadiums at the weekend, the match had to be briefly interrupted in the 26th minute due to fans’ protests against the German Football League’s (DFL) investor deal. Small balls or objects resembling marbles or bouncy balls were thrown onto the lawn from the Union fan block. After the field was cleared, referee Marco Fritz continued the game.
The lead gave Rasenballsport a boost. For the Köpenickers, where the Belgian Yorbe Vertessen made his debut in attack after Kevin Behrens’ departure, there was hardly anything going on offensively. A harmless header from Vertessen (31′) was the Berliners’ first sign of life. As a result, Union made the game a little more balanced, but there were initially no dangerous penalty area scenes on either side. Berlin keeper Alexander Schwolow, who replaced the ill Frederik Rönnow, parried a header from Sesko (45th + 1) shortly before the break.
Shortly after the break, Schwolow was powerless: Sesko easily headed in a free kick from David Raum at the first post. Leipzig stuck with it and Schwolow brilliantly defused a shot from Dani Olmo (53′). Another goal from Sesko was canceled a little later due to an offside position (58th). As a result, Union woke up again and braced itself against the impending defeat. After the red card against Trimmel, who hit Raum with a tackle on the ankle, the hope of a comeback was gone. Leipzig managed its first clean sheet since October 28, 2023 in a 6-0 win against Cologne.