Robin Gosens manages a fantastic starting eleven debut. After just a few days, the record transfer is already in the middle at Union Berlin.
At the end of an afternoon that he won’t soon forget, Robin Gosens soaked it all up. After his almost magical debut as a starting XI, the star buyers from Union Berlin hugged the teammates, jumped in front of the curve and bawled the victory songs of the fans with impressive confidence. “It comes very close to a perfect day,” enthused the international after the 4-1 (3-1) win at Darmstadt 98.
For the first time, the 29-year-old was allowed to play from the start in a Bundesliga game, for the first time he scored in the top German division – and twice. “Scoring two goals, a 4-1 away win with a man down, that’s all you can do,” emphasized the extremely strong Gosens, who appeared in Köpenicker’s second win of the season as if he had never played anywhere else.
Flick and Völler in the stands
The left foot signed in Berlin less than two weeks ago – and yet he is already in the middle of his new Union “family”. It feels as if I’ve been here for a year, said the newcomer from Inter Milan and immediately provided the explanation: He was “really outstandingly received and integrated”, but Union’s game also fits “very, very well my qualities”.
National coach Hansi Flick and DFB sports director Rudi Völler were also able to see this for themselves in the stands. In any case, Gosens did a lot of self-promotion without knowing about the prominent viewers. But it is “simply a good sign when such people are sitting in the stands,” said the 16-time national player, who has high hopes of being nominated for the home European Championship in 2024 as a result of the change.
Gosens ran tirelessly in Darmstadt, he straddled, showed his fine feet with the first goal (4th) and his header strength with the second (34th). “Football writes these stories,” enthused the otherwise reserved coach Urs Fischer, who spoke with unusual exuberance of his team’s “fantastic performance”.
After yellow-red against Brenden Aaronson (21st), Union had been outnumbered for a long time before Kevin Behrens (39th) and Danilho Doekhi (65th) struck – and brought the Köpenickers to the top of the table for at least one night. Whether his team is even stronger than last year, Fischer only wants to answer after 20 league games. It is currently “a step in the right direction”.
Gosens also stacked deep. The six points at the start, as he put it out in the best Union manner, mean nothing. “If we make the mistake of thinking that we’re God knows who now,” he warned, “then it stops real quick.” You should “not take off and lose your head. This is not Union and will never be Union.”