Mario Götze crowns his Bundesliga anniversary with a goal. But the former national player’s goal is not enough for Frankfurt to win against 1. FC Union Berlin. The Köpenickers prove their home strength. At the end of the match day, Heidenheim and Hoffenheim separated goalless.
1. FC Union Berlin didn’t let itself be deterred by a goal from Mario Götze and remains unbeaten at home. The Köpenickers lost points in their own stadium for the first time this season in the 1-1 (0-1) draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, but still improved to fourth place in the Champions League. Eintracht is also still behind the top group in the Bundesliga and is sixth.
In front of 22,012 spectators in the An der Alten Försterei stadium, Götze (14th minute) gave the guests the lead in his 300th Bundesliga game. It was the first goal for the 2014 World Cup final scorer since March 17th. Benedict Hollerbach (66th) scored the deserved equalizer for the home team. Union played in the majority for around 25 minutes after Arthur Theate had to leave the field after a yellow-red card (77th). A supposed goal by Tim Skarke (90th + 1) was disallowed due to being offside.
Both teams don’t have much time to catch their breath, as the second round of the DFB Cup starts on Wednesday. The capital club faces third division team Arminia Bielefeld, Frankfurt has to play against league rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In a lively opening phase, both teams appeared offensive, with Eintracht looking even more for the way forward. After a wild poke around in the Union penalty area, the ball somehow ended up at the second post to Götze, who just had to push the ball in.
It was the first goal conceded before the half-time break for the Köpenick team this season. Visibly impressed by the early goal, the Iron team subsequently retreated and hardly created any significant chances to score. It wasn’t until the final phase of the first half that they started a phase of pressure. Tom Rothe (35th) had a great chance to equalize, but lifted the ball over the crossbar from around five meters.
Trimmel fails at the post
The hosts came out of the locker room with significantly more momentum. Union’s high-flyer Rothe repeatedly caused danger, only acting too inconsistently when finishing. But captain Christopher Trimmel (51st) also had the equalizer on his feet, but only hit the post from around 20 meters. Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp would have had no chance.
Suddenly only the Berliners were playing. Frankfurt stood at the back and concentrated on defense. After the Berliners had missed many promising chances, Hollerbach finally redeemed the Köpenick fans by chipping the ball beautifully over Trapp into the right corner of the goal. The goal was examined for a long time due to a possible offside position, but it counted.
Things got heated again in the final phase. The Belgian Theate received his second warning midway through the second half and left the pitch in anger. Union couldn’t use the majority to score the winning goal.
Heidenheim and Hoffenheim split goalless
At the end of the eighth matchday, 1. FC Heidenheim missed out on the European Cup places. Coach Frank Schmidt’s team couldn’t get past a goalless draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in their own stadium.
The Heidenheimers fell back to tenth place in the table. Despite winning points thanks to numerous great saves from national goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, Hoffenheim is only 15th, just three points ahead of the relegation relegation zone.
Both teams will be challenged again on Wednesday – then in the DFB Cup. Heidenheim has to go to second division club Hertha BSC. Hoffenheim welcomes 1. FC Nürnberg with coach Miroslav Klose.
dpa/mel
