Union Berlin missed the chance to become the leader in the Bundesliga. Even the “iron” failed on Sunday (February 19, 2023) to beat Schalke 04, who set a new league record with the fourth clean sheet in a row. In the duel at FC Bayern, who have the same number of points, Union now has the next opportunity to become number one for the time being.
If you don’t know Union Berlin, you could have quickly got the impression in the game against FC Schalke 04 that the possibility of taking the lead in the table would paralyze the team. Against the bottom of the Bundesliga it was a tough affair in the first half. Apart from Danilho Doekhi’s shot attempt, which Ralf Fährmann was able to parry (23′), there were no highlights, both sides lacked the pace.
However, anyone who follows the action in the German football league knows that Urs Fischer’s team is not one of the best teams – or perhaps the best team after this game – because they win the points with great dominance. A dense defence, fast attacks going forward, which use few chances – accordingly, the course of the game wasn’t particularly surprising, but against Schalke only the first point was right at first, because the opponent didn’t have any chances either.
Also in terms of probability almost a 0:0
The team of Thomas Reis was under pressure to finally hit the opposing goal again. In the past three games there had been no goals conceded, but also no own goals – so three clean sheets were only enough for three points. And that’s not enough to avert the threat of relegation.
In the final phase of the first half, Schalke increasingly fell behind, with fans seriously injured in attacks before leaving for Berlin in the morning. Union went on the offensive – but without becoming dangerous. While there were some promising approaches, the last pass was missing. So it went into the break with a shot ratio of 4:1, how quiet it was in front of both goals was also proven by the statistics of “expected goals” (probability of goals based on shot attempts) of 0.19:0.12.
Schalke with a strong performance, Union lurks
After the break, Schalke were initially the better team and were even able to stay in the opposing half for a long time. What remained, however, was the lack of determination in front of goal. So Michael Frey actually had the lead on his foot, but the striker hesitated for so long that the ball was still saved (60th). Shortly thereafter, the new signing from Schalke came to an end, but Frederik Rönnow was there in the near corner (65th).
Union seemed completely reliant on getting that one moment, as they so often do, that decides the game in their favor. The people from the capital were able to win all their games in the Bundesliga this year – and many were similar to the one against Schalke. Even as the big favorite, the Fischer team remains true to itself. After 75 minutes, the only question was: Is that enough to take the lead on the day?
Siebatcheu has victory on his feet
In the final phase, Union then started more serious attempts to answer this question in the affirmative. After a long time, Paul Seguin fired a shot at the opposing goal again, but Fährmann had no problems with it (78′). It became significantly more dangerous four minutes later when Jordan Siebatcheu missed the big chance to make it 1-0 from close range after a cross from Sheraldo Becker and shot over the goal (82nd).
Unlike, for example, a week earlier at RB Leipzig (2-1), Union missed a great opportunity to win – and it was the last. There was also a lot of fighting in the final minutes, even more cramping and very little goal danger on either side. So it remained with the fourth Schalke zero number in a row – new Bundesliga record – and the table leadership of FC Bayern.
Union to the top game at the record champions
On the next match day, Union will have a top duel with the leaders of the table. Schalke is fighting Stuttgart at home a day earlier for important points in the relegation battle (6.30 p.m.).
Before that, Berlin is still required in the Europa League. The capital city hosts Ajax Amsterdam in the second leg of the intermediate round (Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 9:00 p.m.), the first leg ended 0-0.