Union Berlin second for the time being – RB Leipzig remains without a win

Berlin undefeated

1. FC Union Berlin continued its amazing winning streak against RB Leipzig and shot the unloved opponent from Saxony into the crisis with ice-cold counterattacks. Thanks to the 2:1 (2:0) on Saturday evening, the “Iron” climbed to second place in the Bundesliga for at least one night, unbeaten for ten games across the season.

At RB, coach Domenico Tedesco is facing difficult days after the bitter defeat – the fourth in a row in the Bundesliga against Union. No win and only two points after three matchdays. The coach will certainly have to explain this blatant mishap to the recently critical boss Oliver Mintzlaff. With their goals in front of 21,056 spectators, Jordan Siebatcheu (32nd) and Sheraldo Becker (38th) punished the Leipzigers, who were superior in terms of football but were tactically unmasked as unimaginative, who had to get on the track quickly in order to catch up with the top group of the league – the Union belongs – not to be missed. The late Leipzig headed goal by Willi Orbán was no longer enough (83rd).

Union vs RB. As always, it was the duel of the celebrated working-class romanticism in East Berlin, which absolutely does not want to accept the opponent’s football, which is denounced as being financed by billions. The fans of the iron wanted to be silent for 15 minutes to demonstrate against the RB system, which they saw as a construct to be rejected. Ironically, Timo Werner, identified as a particularly attractive figure, caused the vow of silence to end three minutes early when he went down in a duel with Christopher Trimmel in the penalty area. No penalty. The wild whistling had hardly stopped when a goal celebration could have raised the noise level, but Mohamed Simakan cleared a shot from Julian Ryerson on the line (15′).

Werner (19th) scored an even closer goal. His lob after a pass from Benjamin Henrichs hit the post. Leipzig had the game under control, possession felt approaching the three-digit percentage mark. And yet RB fell into the Union trap with full force. Tedesco had warned beforehand and compared the compact game of Köpenicker with that of Chelsea and Inter Milan under their ex-coach Antonio Conte. A comparison that also clearly flattered Union coach Urs Fischer. Siebatcheu completed the first quick Union counterattack after a pass from Becker. Six minutes later, Becker completed Siebatcheu’s shot. Zack, zack, Union led with two goals and was the leader of the table. Janis Blaswich as Leipzig’s goalkeeper replacement for the injured Péter Gulácsi could not hold a single ball.

Second half, same game: Union liked to stay deep and let Leipzig turn their semicircles in the middle of their own half. It first became dangerous in front of the RB goal when Siebatcheu (59th) just missed one of the few attacks. On the other side, this time Ryerson saved an attempt by Marcel Halstenberg (68th) on the line.

The FCU rules here #FCURBL pic.twitter.com/X4CmDqiA8I

— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) August 20, 2022

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