Union Berlin suffered their second defeat in the Europa League group stage. As a result, the team from Köpenick is already under pressure for the match in Malmö.
In phases, Union Berlin brought their Bundesliga face onto the pitch in Braga. Compared to the opening defeat against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, there was a clear improvement in performance. Nevertheless, the capital city side also lost their second game in the Europa League. That’s why the Eisern are under pressure in their third encounter with Malmö FF, if they want to stay in the European League.
Union without “penetrating power “
“We are disappointed because the result does not reflect the performance. During the 90 minutes, we didn’t allow much and we had our chances. But we didn’t score from them. And then you lose unhappily 0:1,” summed up coach Urs Fischer. Defender Paul Jaeckel echoed the same sentiment. “We simply have to be more consistent, we also lacked a bit of penetrating power.”
The Köpenickers created the aforementioned high-calibre goals in the opening quarter of an hour. Jordan Siebatcheu (5th), Sheraldo Becker (15th) and Diogo Leite (16th) failed to put the ball in the net. Towards the end of the first half, the home side started to come more and more into the game, but without being really dangerous. Only shortly before the half-time whistle did keeper Frederik Rönnow have to save from Braga striker Simon Banza (45.+2).
Fischer saw the following problem in the first half: “We had some actions over the sides where we could have been dangerous with crosses. But they didn’t come through the first man.” This continued after the change of sides. Especially via the right side, where Julian Ryerson was operating, the guests kept advancing into the final third. But in the end the last pass into the centre was missing.
On the other side, Tymoteusz Puchacz played on the left side. The Pole made his competitive debut this season. However, he wasn’t as busy as Ryerson on the other side. “He actually did a decent job. In the second half, his energy was a bit weak,” Fischer analysed.
After Vitinha’s opening goal (77th), Union once again threw everything forward and broke up the three-man defence. But even in the final minutes, the necessary precision and the final punch were missing to take a point back to Berlin. “Every defeat is annoying, but today even more so. We showed a very good away game in parts. Now we are looking straight ahead again,” Fischer emphasised.
Because on Sunday, the Bundesliga leaders expect VfL Wolfsburg at home at the Alte Försterei.