Joshua Mees and Sebastian Polter both grabbed doubles as 1. FC Union Berlin ran out 4-0 winners against SpVgg Greuther Fürth at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
The 22-year-old winger has started the last three games for Urs Fischer’s team and he popped up with his first two goals for Union Berlin inside 10 minutes.
Sebastian Polter prodded home both goals from close range to record his third and fourth league strikes of the 18/19 campaign.
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Hübner, Reichel; Schmiedebach, Zulj, Hartel; Mees (Hedlund 67), Polter (Andersson 75), Abdullahi (Redondo 57)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth: Burchert; Wittek (Raum 5), Magyar (Bauer 59), Maloca, Sauer; Gugganig, Mohr, Ernst; Green (Abouchabaka 59), Atanga, Keita-Ruel
Attendance: 21,785
With three changes to the side from last weekend’s fourth consecutive draw in the 2.Bundesliga, Union Berlin carried a clear offensive intention — Christopher Trimmel, Marcel Hartel and Suleiman Abdullahi were all given a starting place. Greuther Fürth left-back Maximilian Wittek suffered a nasty head knock in the second minute and was replaced by David Raum. After a short stoppage in play, Union stormed into action, with Marcel Hartel picking out Mees who cushioned past Sascha Burchert. Five minutes later, Mees latched on to Trimmel’s cross from the right and finished off expertly with a diving header. Although Union had the better of the goals, Damir Buric’s men threatened at times on their own. Ken Reichel stopped Julian Green from pulling the trigger before Rafal Gikiewicz made a fantastic, reflex save to keep out Sebastian Ernst’s header. The Köpenick club added a third on 29 minutes with Polter diverting Mees’ long-range drive away from the goalkeeper. Robert Zulj saw an effort ruled out for offside on 44 minutes after Burchert parried a good effort from Abdullahi.
1. FC Union Berlin continued their dominance into the second half, shooting towards the Waldseite, which came to life after the break. Burchert kept out an effort from Marvin Friedrich in the 54th minute before Polter would notch his second of the afternoon a minute later. The Union striker was given the easy task of slotting into an empty net, but credit must go to Abdullahi whose persistence and determination forced the important mistake in Greuther Fürth’s rearguard. Kenny Prince Redondo, Simon Hedlund and Sebastian Andersson freshened up the Union side going into the final half an hour with the match essentially over as a contest.
The three points help prolong Union Berlin's unbeaten record in the 2.Bundesliga — now a club record 15 matches.
Union Berlin meet Greuther Fürth at the Alte Försterei
Match preview
1. FC Union Berlin will look to continue their unbeaten run in the 2.Bundesliga when SpVgg Greuther Fürth come to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Sunday November 11.
Union have drawn the last four matches — either side of the cup loss at Borussia Dortmund — and head into the final game before the international break in fouth place.
Review: Union held in Regensburg, Fürth level at the end
Urs Fischer’s men were left disappointed at the 1-1 result at Jahn Regensburg last week, with Ken Reichel’s goal disallowed in the final minutes. Sebastian Polter followed up on his double in Dortmund with the opener on the stroke of half time. But Jann George hit the sucker-punch a minute later to hand Regensburg a point. Grischa Prömel was shown a second yellow card on 77 minute, before Reichel’s strike was chopped off by referee Sascha Stegemann.
Damir Buric’s Greuther Fürth were delighted to pick up a point against VfL Bochum on matchday 12. The Bavarians were down by two goals at the break but bounced back with strikes from Lukas Gugganig and Daniel Keita-Ruel to grab some consolation. Keita-Ruel’s leveller was the seventh injury time goal that he has scored in this campaign.
Record: The club record and the bogey team
This unbeaten phase is the best record in the 2.Bundesliga for 1. FC Union Berlin — now 14 games unbeaten including the finale to the 17/18 campaign.
Greuther Fürth — level on 20 points with Union — are a club to have played a role in the history of Union. When the Berliners went on to reach the DFB Pokal final in 2001, Fürth were beaten 1-0 in the second round. In the 23 games between the pair, Union have managed just four wins against Fürth with nine draws and 10 defeats.
Last season, Union picked up a 3-1 win at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in the Hinrunde. The return game in Fürth went the way of the green-and-whites who ran out 2-1 winners on April 1.
Personnel: Prömel suspended
Prömel's second yellow card in Regensburg means he is suspended for Sunday's game at home. Felix Kroos returned to training this week and will undergo a fitness test tomorrow. However, Marc Torrejon remains the only member of the squad to be unavailable through injury. When asked about options to replace Prömel in central midfield, Fischer told the media: "We have one or two other options to replace him. We've tried them out in training and we'll decide at the end. It's an opportunity for someone else to prove themselves."
Service: Travel disruption in Berlin
More than 300 Fürth supporters are expected to make the trip to the capital. Union Berlin will split the extra away allocation and there were extra tickets made available this week to supporters of the Köpenick club.
Meanwhile, supporters will need to make alternative arrangements given the ongoing construction works at Berlin-Ostkreuz station. You can find more information here.
