From BZ/dpa
Great starting field debut for Robins Gosens!
The new signing led 1. FC Union to their second win of the season with a brace and thus to the top of the table in the Bundesliga for the time being. Under the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick and sports director Rudi Völler, the national player scored in the 4-1 (3-1) win at promoted SV Darmstadt 98 in the 4th and 34th minute and thus strongly recommended himself for the upcoming international matches in early September DFB selection.
In front of 17,810 spectators, Kevin Behrens (39′) and Danilho Doekhi (65′) scored the other goals for the Berliners, who were outnumbered for well over an hour after Brenden Aaronson (21′) received a yellow-red card. Marvin Mehlem (24th) scored to make it 1-1 for Lilien, who are still without a point.
Union’s Brenden Aaronson in a duel with Darmstadt’s Fabian Nürnberger. A little later, the Berlin saw yellow-red Photo: Daniel ROLAND / AFP
After the decent Bundesliga comeback in the 0:1 in the Hessen derby at Eintracht Frankfurt, the Darmstadt team started the first home game of the season full of energy – and were immediately caught off guard by Union. Gosens, who was brought in from Atalanta Bergamo for a reported 15 million euros, asserted himself energetically in a central position and overcame Lilien goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen with a well-placed shot from 18 meters.
The Berliners, who still had to do without Rani Khedira, who had an injured calf, seemed more calm in their actions than the newcomer and could not have extended the lead after less than 20 minutes. However, a header from Behrens, who had scored three times in the 4-1 opening win against Mainz 05 last week, just missed the target.
Robin Gosens hits the header to make it 2-1 for Union Photo: City Press
Shortly thereafter, the guests then weakened themselves. After a foul on Fabian Nürnberger, Aaronson, who had already been warned, saw the yellow-red card. Darmstadt immediately took advantage of the majority. After a fine back-heel from newcomer Luca Pfeiffer, Mehlem equalized.
However, the Champions League participant from the capital was not shocked by the double setback. Again it was Gosens who put the iron in the lead again. This time the midfielder scored with a header after a free kick from Josip Juranovic. Five minutes later, Behrens also increased his header with his fourth goal of the season.
Fourth goal of the season for Kevin Behrens. The striker dusts off his head to make it 3-1 Photo: City Press
“We can’t compare ourselves to Union Berlin,” Darmstadt coach Torsten Lieberknecht said before the game – and he was right. Because even in the second half, his team was no match for the opponent despite clear ball possession advantages.
After Diego Leite only hit the post shortly after the restart, Doekhi made it 4:1 after 65 minutes. The Darmstadt defense was not up to par with the third header goal.
Although the hosts never gave up, they could hardly embarrass the ripped-off Berliners. Only when Pfeiffer hit the post (70th) did the guests face danger again. On the other side, Aljoscha Kemlein only hit the crossbar in added time.