Almost without exception, the fans of 1. FC Union greet their former players in a friendly or even euphoric way. According to his statements in the past few weeks, it was foreseeable that Max Kruse would not necessarily reap the usual “football god” calls when he first met after his move at the end of January. But the intensity with which the 2,500 Berliners who traveled with them fought against the acoustic event sound during the team line-up of VfL Wolfsburg was a bit surprising and culminated in a piercing concert of whistles when Kruse was substituted shortly before the end.
The striker glanced in the direction of the away block and a few minutes later was able to celebrate his third win in five games with VfL Wolfsburg. With a bit of luck, the Lower Saxony defeated Union in front of 15,703 spectators on Saturday afternoon 1-0 (1-0) and thus slowly but surely said goodbye to the relegation battle. Union remained pointless and goalless in their third guest appearance at VfL. To reach the first goal of the season relegation still three points are missing. “The defeat is annoying because we kept playing against the Wolfsburg goal,” said Grischa Prömel. “I don’t even know how many chances we have to create here away from home to take something with us.”
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Union coach Urs Fischer had announced before the game that he would rotate moderately in view of the heavy workload in the English week – and the Swiss did so. Compared to the cup success on Tuesday, Andreas Luthe and defenders Dominique Heintz, Julian Ryerson and Bastian Oczipka moved into the starting lineup.
As in all Bundesliga stadiums, there was a lot of solidarity with the people of Ukraine in Wolfsburg. A few fans in the stands held up appropriate flags, a large peace sign was chalked in the center circle and players and spectators applauded before kick-off.
Taiwo Awoniyi found his own goal from a corner
The Wolfsburg team then managed to focus on the sport much faster. After less than two minutes, Kruse crossed from the left, but Bartosz Bialek couldn’t get the ball clean with his head. The Berliners saved the following corner too short and Xaver Schlager’s powerful volley smacked the left post. After this early moment of shock, Union slowly woke up. The ball possession phases became a little longer and so the Berliners gradually gained more security. In the opposing half, however, their actions lacked esprit and determination.
After a low cross from Sheraldo Becker, Grischa Prömel slipped just wide of the ball, a little later it was again the midfielder who finished after an outstanding pass from Genki Haraguchi. However, defender Heintz had the best chance in Berlin, after a corner shot too central from five meters.
From the middle of the first half, the action shifted back towards the Berliner Tor. While Union’s central defenders went into the space between the defensive line and midfield to disturb Kruse when he received the ball, they had bigger problems with Bialek. Luthe parried twice strongly.
At the corner that followed, Union goalkeeper looked pretty unhappy. Midfielder Maximilian Arnold pulled the ball sharply to the near post and Luthe made his way to clear with his fists. However, Awoniyi had the ball a fraction of a second earlier and extended into his own goal. Since Union didn’t think of much offensively and Wolfsburg only managed what was happening, not much happened until half-time.
Nothing changed in terms of personnel during the break, but the Berliners now acted with much more pressure. A first warning shot from Awoniyi after a Becker cross landed on the side netting. Five minutes later, the ball was in the goal after another combination of the Berlin strikers. But referee Patrick Ittrich wanted Awoniyi to have recognized a foul on Arnold beforehand. “Arnold loses his balance and is already falling. For me it’s not a foul and I don’t understand why people don’t watch it,” said Prömel.
After a dangerous header from Becker didn’t lead to the now well-deserved equaliser, Fischer gradually brought everything his bank had to offer in terms of offensive strength. At first, only Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha was close to a joker goal, who hit the post from a tight angle and then failed to counter Luthe. In the closing stages, Union threw everything forward, but Anthony Ujah and Andreas Voglsammer weren’t lucky in the end.
