Explosive second leg
© Imago
VfL Bochum is the great loser of the 31st matchday in the Bundesliga relegation battle despite a point win against Union Berlin. After the 1-1 (0: 1) against the Köpenicker, the team of coach Dieter Hecking can be the first relegation on Friday.
134 days after the scandal game at Union, Matus Bero (68th minute) scored the equalization for Bochum after a penalty after a penalty. Benedict Hollerbach (17th) had brought the Berliners, who had been undefeated since seven games.
Union had to survive in the second half for a few anxious minutes after Diogo Leit had a shot in front of the larynx and had to be treated for a long time. The defender was finally brought off the field with a stretcher.
Since the direct competitors 1. FC Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel won their games on this matchday, Bochum fell back to the bottom of the table with only 21 points from 31 games. Should the team of coach Hecking also lose the showdown in Heidenheim on Friday, the seventh Bundesliga relegation would be determined. Three games behind Heidenheim on relegation rank 16 is now four points three game days before the end of the season.
Actually, a victory was compulsory against Union, which has already been saved. The pressure was noticeable to the VfL: the home side played nervously and cramped, in whom routine Cristian Gamboa surprisingly received the preference in front of VfL top priority Felix Passlack and first ran this season from the start.
This personnel attempt failed and Hecking took the gamboa at risk of yellow-red again at half-time. With substitute Georgios Masouras, VfL tried everything again.
Tom Krauss only hit the post by direct acceptance (56.). A little later, referee Deniz Aytekin decided on a penalty after Var intervention. Leopold crossing had checked the substitute Dani de Wit in the penalty area. Bero initially failed to Frederik Rönnow in the Union goal, only equal to Slovak.
Bochum had done more for the game with limited agents in the first round, but had rarely had dangerous opportunities. The best way of the first round by Jakov Medic (32nd) had clarified Union crossing with his head just before the line.
At that point, the guests had already gave the lead happily. A volley shot of Hollerbach after a corner had been deflected and hit behind the stunned and almost motionless VfL keeper Timo Horn.
In the first leg on December 14th Patrick Drewes had been in the goal and was hit by a lighter at the time. The game was interrupted for 25 minutes. The game ended 1: 1, but was later rated 2-0 for Bochum. The Berliners, on the other hand, moved to the constant arbitration court, which only wants to decide this week.
The game on Sunday was considered a risk game due to the tense relationship between the two clubs and fan groups. However, both clubs had avoided taunts or provocation before the duel. This was not true for the Union fans. Far before the game, the travelers who traveled together chanted abdominal chants against VfL and unrolled a poster with a lighter that stood on the “Fire and Flame for Union”. Otherwise, according to the Bochum police, it remained calm.