Compared to the starting line-up from the home defeat to SC Freiburg two weeks ago, head coach Alexander Blessin had to manage today without the injured Eric Smith und Tomoya Andō. They were replaced by Adam Dźwigała and fit-again Karol Mets in the back three. Martijn Kaars also came into the starting eleven, with Lars Ritzka dropping to the bench after his shoulder operation. For the hosts, coach Steffen Baumgart made no fewer than five changes from the team that started the game in their 4-0 defeat at Bayern Munich last time out.
In front of a full house at the ‘Alte Försterei’ our Boys in Brown were looking for an important three points in the battle against relegation, while the hosts were hoping for a win to give a boost to their own efforts to stay clear of the drop. As was to be expected, both sides looked to close each other down from the outset. The first chance of the game went to Union, but Danilo Doekhi’s shot on the turn was tipped over by the alert Nikola Vasilj (5). After that, however, our Boys in Brown allowed the hosts no further chances in the opening stages, while our own attacking endeavours all remained without success.
But then, from a training ground corner routine, Karol Mets had a great chance to give FCSP the lead in the middle of the first half. Mathias Pereira Lage played the ball short to Danel Sinani, who sent it in low towards the penalty spot. Standing there unmarked, Mets then sadly put his shot wide of the far post (22). But then, following a free-kick halfway into the attacking half, the ball crashed into the Union net. After Jackson Irvine‘s shot had been blocked, Pereira Lage threw caution to the wind with a first-time shot. He hammered the ball in under the bar from 20 yards with a shot speed of almost 120km/h. Union keeper Frederik Rønnow could only stretch up a hand in vain – a fantastic goal (22).
The remainder of the half was an intense affair, with lots of long balls, plus the odd free-kick and corner. From one of those corners the hosts’ Andrej Ilić climbed highest, but his close-range header was safely pounced on by Vasilj (33). A few moments later, Vasilj was again called into action, having to pull off a double save first in a one-on-one with Oliver Burke and then by blocking the follow-up shot from Derrick Köhn with his foot (40). Union applied pressure again as half-time approached, but Köhn sent a 22-yard free-kick a good few feet over the bar (45+2). Moments later the whistle went for the break.
Both teams returned for the second half unchanged. Union had somewhat more of the game at the start of the half, but faced with compact defending from FCSP found no way to create any real danger. But then a corner brought them success. Köhn took it and Ilić climbed highest to head the ball in off the far post – 1:1 (52). After Sinani had been put in by Arkadiusz Pyrka and hit the side netting (59), Blessin made his first change: Andréas Hountondji replaced Martijn Kaars (60).
Neither side was creating much from open play, and our next good chance came from a corner. Again taken short, Sinani laid the ball back to Pyrka. From 22 yards, he took aim at the far top corner, but saw his shot clear the bar (63). Moments later Vasilj, playing out from the back, passed the ball straight to Union’s Schäfer, but was immediately able to make good his mistake with a fine stop. Time for him and all FCSP fans to take a deep breath! That could have ended up a lot worse (67).
While our team constantly sought to get forward, the moves always broke down on the edge of the hosts’ box if not before. Just before the start of the final quarter of an hour, Blessin then made his second change: Connor Metcalfe came on for Joel Chima Fujita (73). After much hustle and bustle to no end in both penalty areas, Union substitute Tom Rothe got his head on the ball from a long throw, but his effort gave Vasilj no problem (86).
Moments after Mathias Rasmussen was replaced by Abdoulie Ceesay (89), the game entered its final few minutes, during which period another foul by Irvine saw him receive a second yellow and thus red (90+3) and assistant coach Peter Németh was shown a straight red for dissent (90+4). After a turbulent final few moments, it was then all over. All in all, a fair sharing of the points.