Union Berlin’s test match against St. Gallen was a trip down memory lane for coach Urs Fischer. In the present, some of his reservists were able to gain match practice. Fischer was not satisfied with the performance in the 1:3 defeat.
FC St. Gallen once again made a flying visit to 1. FC Union Berlin as a test match partner. On 19 January 2020, the Swiss side won 2:1 in Köpenick. In the rematch on Wednesday evening, they even deservedly won 3:1. The goals scored by the Swiss in front of 1646 spectators at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei were the work of Tim Staubli (26th minute), Patrick Sutter (55th) and Salifou Diarrassouba (60th). After one hour, Union was deservedly trailing 0:3. Defender Paul Jaeckel at least provided the consolation goal to make it 1:3 (69th) in the final phase, in which Union missed many opportunities. However, there was another low blow, midfielder Pawel Wszolek retired shortly before the end with an ankle injury.
Union coach Urs Fischer will surely have thought of the old days in St. Gallen at least before kick-off. Between 1987 and 1995, the former defender played 293 competitive games for St. Gallen. In the present, he primarily watched his reserve players gain match practice. After the 90 minutes, he was dissatisfied. “You could clearly see that some players are missing minutes of play. I will discuss this with the boys. The first half was football without contact from our side. Then it just doesn’t work,” Fischer explained. “We have already hit the ground running. That goes for everyone, including the gentlemen from the press. After 0:3 we really woke up. We had a lot of chances.”
Sheraldo Becker was somewhat in the spotlight. The offensive man had complained about not getting enough playing time in a media session at the lecture. However, Becker was only able to collect limited plus points in the match. He was too inaccurate with some crosses. He lacked fortune with his finishes, as he did in the 82nd minute.
Union squad thinned out
The Union squad was a bit thinned out by six internationals. Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria), Genki Haraguchi (Japan), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Poland), Frederik Rönnow (Denmark), Julian Ryerson (Norway) and Christopher Trimmel (Austria) are all fighting for World Cup points with their nations these days. In the match between Denmark and Austria on Tuesday in Copenhagen, Rönnow and Trimmel could even meet each other directly.
Their chance in the test against St. Gallen would probably also have gone to centre-back Mathis Bruns and attacker Malick Sanogo. However, both of Union’s U-19 Bundesliga players are taking part in the U-18 national team’s assessment course in Krefeld this week;
Central defender Timo Baumgartl was absent due to injury, but has at least been able to train individually again after suffering a serious concussion in the home match against Arminia Bielefeld (1:0) on 25 September.
Union’s Bundesliga campaign continues on 16 October. VfL Wolfsburg will then be our guests at the Alte Försterei.
