The game between Malmö FF and Union Berlin was about to be canceled after firecrackers were thrown. In terms of sport, the Bundesliga club was able to celebrate in the end and scored the first points in the competition with a man down.
Sheraldo Becker scored the winning goal for Union in the 67th minute on Thursday evening (October 6th, 2022). Andras Schäfer saw the red card in the 45th minute. Malmö remains at the bottom of the group with a 0:1 (0:0) pointless result, the Köpenickers now have three points after three games and still have chances of progressing.
Balanced first half – sending off just before the break
At the Unionern, coach Urs Fischer was back on the sidelines after a negative corona test and the trainer experienced a lively start, in which his team tried again and again to get dangerously in front of the hosts’ goal with quick switching moments.
However, the first really good chance belonged to the Swedes, after fifteen minutes Joseph Ceesay tested Berlin’s keeper Frederik Rönnow from a promising position with a relatively central shot. It took until the 36th minute for the first really clear Union chance. Janik Haberer aimed his volley too high. Shortly before the change of sides, the Fischer-Elf had to accept a severe setback. Andras Schäfer was the last man on the center line to fritter away the ball and then pulled the rushing Anders Christiansen’s shirt – emergency brake, dismissal. With this bad news we went into the half-time break.
25 minutes break after firecracker throws
Even if Malmö came out of the dressing room with a lot of pressure: Despite being outnumbered, the Köpenickers continued to try their luck from time to time – especially with long balls. Jordan Siebatcheu almost took the lead from a tackle after such a ball, but was denied by Ismael Diawara in the Swedes’ goal (49′).
Masked fans of Union Berlin
After 56 minutes the game was interrupted by referee Halil Umut Meier because, among other things, firecrackers were thrown from the Union block, some onto the field and some into other blocks. A “Böller” exploded right in front of the away block next to a folder. 25 minutes later, after a long wait, the announcement came over the stadium loudspeakers that the game would be continued – with the threat that another cannon throw would lead to the immediate termination.
“My feelings are divided”President Dirk Zingerle said after the game on RTL+: “It’s unacceptable. Nothing and nobody has anything to do with the lawn. That annoys me, I’m pissed off.”
Becker’s sprint to the winning goal
Shortly after the restart of the game, Rönnow had to show all his skills to prevent the deficit: Martin Olsson appeared free in front of the Union keeper, but he cleverly shortened the angle. In the 67th minute, Becker then overtook the Malmö defense, sprinted half-right in the direction of the goal and finally hit the lead with a powerful low shot into the bottom left corner – it was the first Union goal in the competition. Both opponents then had reasonable opportunities in the final phase – but the really big one was no longer there. The guests saved the victory over time.