1. FC Union Berlin and VFL Bochum played out a 1-1 draw in Union's final home game of 2024, despite an early red card for the guests' Koji Miyoshi. Ibrahima Sissoko scored a suprising opener after 23 minutes before Benedict Hollerbach equalised 10 minutes later.

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Skov, Doekhi, Vogt, Leite, Rothe (79. Vertessen) – Schäfer (68. Bénes), Khedira (79. Haberer) – Jeong (68. Kemlein), Skarke (56. Siebatcheu), Hollerbach  

VfL Bochum 1848: Drewes - Oermann, Ordets, Bernardo - Passlack, Bero, Sissoko (89. de Wit), Wittek (74. Medic) - Miyoshi, Broschinski (89. Hofmann), Holtmann (37. Losilla) 

The starting XI

Bo Svensson made just the one change from last weekend’s 3-2 loss away in Stuttgart. Frederick Rönnow was in goal, behind the back three of Diogo Leite, Kevin Vogt, back in the squad, and replacing Leopold Querfeld, and Danilho Doekhi.

Robert Skov retained his place on the right-hand side, alongside Rani Khedira and Andras Schäfer in the middle, while Tom Rothe started on the left.

Up front Benedict Hollerbach and Wooyeong Jeong were in support of the central striker Tim Skarke.

Attendance: 22.012 

Goals: 0-1 Sissoko (23.), 1-1 Hollerbach (33.) 

Sissoko scores despite Miyoshi’s early red, Hollerbach equalises

It was a freezing day in Köpenick as the Alte Försterei filled for a final time in 2024, but their games against Bochum in recent times have always been tough affairs, and this was to see more of the same. But if the result, a hard-fought point, was preferable to the last time the sides met here, the end was almost as unsatisfactory. The last moments were played out without action, following a long break after an object was thrown onto the pitch.

Union started off flying, a short sharp intervention from Rani Khedira saw him set Wooyeong Jeong off down the right, daring a couple of step-overs before hitting the ball knee height into Tim Skarke as he headed towards the near post. His volleyed flashed wide, but it was a promising sign, a lightning start.

Bochum countered, winning three corners in a row, but Union’s backline were more than ready for them, Doekhi, Vogt and Khedira clearing them all with a certain towering ease.

The game struggled to get into its flow after that, and was littered with little fouls, Tim Oermann on Hollerbach, Gerrit Holtmann on Khedira, Moritz Broschinski on Robert Skov, and it was the latter who was next to find a gap in the guests’ defence, when he crossed deep firm the right for Tom Rothe, though his header back across goal was a little too high, too flighted.

Rönnow then did well, getting down to his right to stop Broschinski’s low drive at the near post after ten minutes, but the game took on a whole other face just moments later when Koji Miyoshi went in on Schäfer with a brutal, ankle high challenge, leaving the Union midfielder in agony on the ground. The referee, Martin Petersen, immediately showed him a red card. He was right there, there was no question.

Bochum had few arguments and, pushing their advantage immediately, Union won a corner that Hollerbach almost managed to stab over the line from a few yards out. Skarke, the wind in his sails, then went down under a challenge from Sissoko, but this time Petersen’s whistle stayed to his side and Hollerbach played on.

Skov seized the next chance, but this time Patrick Drewes was equal to his well hit shot, palming it away.

 Union were playing well, if not taking full advantage of their extra man yet, but, after 22 minutes, against the run of play, and all expectations, it was Bochum who took the lead after a free kick, 35 yards out, went out right to Felix Passlack. He hit a curling ball into the box that Sissoko met with a flying header that Rönnow had no chance with.

The goal had come like a kick to the gut for Union, and though they strived to get back into things, it took a while for their momentum to return. Skarke and Yeong combined to set up Khedira, but his drive flew inches wide. Union’s midfielder was then in action at the other end, chasing Passlack all the way back and landing a perfectly timed sliding tackle to stop his attempted cross.

Schäfer hit one past the other post with half an hour played, though Drewes seemed to have it covered, dropping down to his left to be sure.

Then, with 33 minutes on the clock, Union made the vital breakthrough. Again, the busy Skov popped up on the right, and this time he found Hollerbach loitering by the penalty spot. Somehow, he managed to move the ball onto his left foot, and shot almost in the same movement, with next to no back lift, stabbing the ball through Sissoko’s legs, past Drewes and inside the back post.

Union pushed on – Hollerbach looking somewhat unfortunate to get a yellow card for a dive as the crowd screamed for a penalty - though Drewes’ next save would come from his own player as he rose to grab the ball as it flicked high off the boot of Ivan Ordets, and threatened to drop under the post.

With five minutes of the half to play, everyone bar Rönnow was in the Bochum half, with Leite particularly involved, swapping passes with Rothe and Jeong. But for all their domination of the ball, their constant pinging of passes in and around the box, their movements rarely lead to a final shot against the massed ranks in blue all around them.

 At the other end, Rönnow was out sharply to dispossess Broschinski as Bochum made a rare foray into the Union half.

By the end they were banging on the door, but it just wouldn’t open up. Skov came close when he cut inside from the right and tried to bend one across goal that just beat the back post; Rothe drew a good stop from Drewes and, to round things off, Doekhi blazed an inch over the bar in a final burst before the whistle blew to end the half.

Bochum, perennial annoyances at the Alte Försterei had clung on.

The half remains goalless, the game pauses before the end

Svensson sent his team out, unchanged, early as the stadium DJ still played, and immediately Hollerbach burst into the box, feeding Skov who was bundled over. Petersen immediately pointed to the spot, though, the wait went on as he then trudged over to the monitor, smoke now pouring over the pitch from the away end. The waiting, however, would have no happy end for the Unioner, as he changed his mind, making the ominous, international sign for the TV, and pointing away from the spot.

But Union’s intentions were clear, as shown by Leite’s lunging tackle on Maximilian Wittek, deep inside the Bochum half, and he would soon see a header from Skov’s whipped in corner fly wide as Union pushed on. As Skov waited to take the free kick he had won, bringing Sissoko a yellow card, ten minutes in, Svensson made his first change, bringing on Jordan Siebatcheu for Skarke.

Bochum were now resorting to long balls out, but even they found their man, first Rothe was there to stop Passlack, then Vogt did wonderfully, chasing Broschinski back for 20 yards at full speed before nudging the ball away from him to safety.

He did better later on as Wittek burst forward, suddenly Bochum a man up as they broke at pace, but he again showed all the wiles of over 260 competitive games in his challenge. His awareness, strength and pace all showing.

Union saw more balls fly across the Bochum box, one from Schäfer from the left, another from Skov from the right as Union advanced all the while; Vogt alone at the back, furious as he got a yellow card for a tussle with Wittek out on Union’s right.

Then, as Skov hit another just over the bar as he cut inside, with just over 20 minutes to play, before Svensson made two further changes as Aljoscha Kemlein and László Bénes replaced the tiring Schäfer and Jeong. It was all Union now, but still they lacked that final touch, a bit of luck, a moment of magic in the box.

Doekhi howled in frustration as he overhit another cross, this one from 35 yards, out on the right, but he’d make up for it with a superb diving stop as Broschinski suddenly looked to capitalise on a moment of imminent danger following a short Bochum throw-in. He made another on the same man later, he was a rock back there, and, alongside Vogt and Leite, a huge part of what was still the third best defence in the league. Substitute, Jakov Medic, then volleyed over from the edge of the box when he found himself alone and the ball dropping invitingly.

As Bochum continued their stoic and resolute defence, Khedira and Rothe made way for Yorbe Vertessen and Janik Haberer as Svensson looked for a final push with ten minutes to go. Vertessen soon volleyed over having been played in by Skov; Sissoko robbed Kemlein as he tried to tee himself up near the edge of the box; Leite saw another header wide from a corner, this time under pressure from Tim Oermann.

Oermann was a particular thorn in Union’s side. He blocked Vertessen’s drive before then getting in the way of Jordan as he tried desperately to conjure an inch of space in the six-yard box.

Svensson said, “Unfortunately, we can't be quite as satisfied today. Conceding a goal while a man up was particularly annoying, especially because we had our best spell after that and equalised. In the second half, we continued to try to break down Bochum's defence, but we couldn't get through because we lacked the necessary precision in the decisive moments,’

Then, with five minutes added on, Drewes went down as he was preparing to take a goal kick, as if he’d been struck by something thrown. The snow started to come down, too. Everything went on hold as the Bochum keeper was tended to, and the players were lead off, Rönnow remaining on the pitch, swinging his arms, trying to keep warm, but soon enough he joined his teammates in the changing rooms, where they remained for another 15 minutes before slowly emerging again.

“After the incident in added time, they discussed how the game could be properly finished, so they decided to let the time run out,” said Horst Heldt, Union’s director of men’s professional football. “It was a very intense game in which an ugly scene by an individual led to the way it ended. The important thing is that the VfL goalkeeper is okay and now we are looking ahead.’

Eventually they returned, with Philipp Hofmann in the Bochum goal, but the Union players kept the ball to themselves, just waiting for the formality of the final whistle.