1. FC Union Berlin lost the second city derby of the season 0-4 at the Olympic Stadium.
Goals from Vedad Ibisevic, Dodi Lukebakio, Matheus Cunha and Dedryck Boyata in the second half put Urs Fischer's team to the sword in front of more than 80,000 empty seats in Charlottenburg.
Urs Fischer was back on the training pitch this week as he prepared Union for the second Berlin Derby of the campaign. Keven Schlotterbeck's fifth yellow card in the 0-2 defeat to Bayern Munich last week earned a one-game suspension and the defender was replaced by the returning Marvin Friedrich. Christopher Lenz limped out of training on Wednesday with Ken Reichel taking over on the left, while Michael Parensen stepped in for Neven Subotic and Sebastian Andersson replaced Anthony Ujah respectively.
After a minute's silence to remember the victims of the current coronavirus pandemic, referee Harm Osmers commenced the second Bundesliga derby between Hertha and Union. Bruno Labbadia's first game in charge of Hertha was a successful 3-0 win at Hoffenheim last week, and the urgency from his players was clear. Goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz collected a long-range shot from Matheus Cunha but the general threat came from Hertha's pace on the counterattack. Dodi Lukebakio missed one-against-one with the Polish number one who also kept out a backheel from Cunha. Fischer's team grew with confidence and courage as the half developed and built upon some promising set-piece opportunities without finding the net. On 16 minutes, Friedrich threw his body at Christopher Trimmel's corner kick but Rune Jarstein was out quickly to smother the danger. Through Robert Andrich and Grischa Prömel, Union found an aggressive tempo in possession and it was the key to breaking through Hertha's defence. Prömel broke the lines and found Trimmel, the skipper's cross was met by Andersson but Jordan Torunarigha cleared at the front post. Before the half came to a close, Jarstein was made to scramble across his goal from a brilliantly-hit free kick from Andrich.
Fischer's team returned from the tunnel and started on the front foot. Torunarigha's positioning was crucial to block Bülter from scoring after great work from Andrich, driving into the box. However, the derby bragging rights were essentially settled inside 60 seconds as Hertha opened up a two-goal advantage. Ibisevic found a yard in the box to head Labbadia's men ahead on 51 minutes before Lukebakio took the ball around Gikiewicz to slot home the second immediately after the restart. The Köpenick club changed quickly with Anthony Ujah strengthening the attack, but Hertha's dominance remained untouched. Matheus Cunha swivelled on the edge of the area on the hour mark and fired into Gikiewicz's bottom-left corner. Fischer turned to Julian Ryerson, Yunus Malli, Sebastian Polter and Felix Kroos from the substitute's bench as Union used up all five options from the bench. Union went without hitting the target and the salt was rubbed into the wounds when Boyata scored a fourth for Hertha after 77 minutes.
Two defeats in two since the return of Bundesliga football, 1. FC Union Berlin will look to take full advantage of the next outing at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. On Wednesday night, relegation rivals Mainz make the trip to the capital.
Berlin Derby clash in Charlottenburg
Match preview
Five days after 1. FC Union Berlin returned to Bundesliga action, Urs Fischer's team will take on city rivals Hertha Berlin for the second time this season. Compared to the first Bundesliga battle, the settings could not be further away with the match taking place at the Olympic Stadium on Friday at 20:30 local time – but with no fans present.
Review: Union beaten by Bayern, Hertha win at Hoffenheim
The Bundesliga's shutdown ended after nine weeks with Union hosting champions Bayern at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. The Köpenick club were without coach Fischer who left the training camp in Barsinghausen due to personal reasons. Markus Hoffmann assumed all responsibilities in the technical area and came up against Bayern's head coach Hansi Flick. The Bavarians ran out 2-0 winners with goals from Robert Lewandowski and a header in the second half from Benjamin Pavard.
A day earlier, Bruno Labbadia's first match as Hertha head coach saw the experienced coach take all three points from Hoffenheim. Kevin Akpoguma's own goal was quickly followed up by a strike from Vedad Ibisevic to put the Berliners ahead. Matheus Cunha netted late on to move the club from Charlottenburg ahead of Union in the Bundesliga table.
Fischer: Looking forward to Friday
"Even though the conditions are unusual, I'm looking forward to Friday," said coach Fischer at the pre-match press conference. "In the end, it's a derby. It's a special game with lots of emotions. I'm sure I don't need to do much to get the players up for Friday.
"For me, the first and main goal is our overall goal - that is staying in the Bundesliga. On Friday, as well, we will have to focus on three very important points to achieve this target. We currently have 30 points, but that alone won't be enough at the end of the season. We want to stay in the league with all our might, a victory against Hertha would help us a lot to reach this goal."
Personnel: Union without Schlotterbeck, Friedrich available
Keven Schlotterbeck picked up his fifth yellow card against Bayern Munich and will miss the derby. Marvin Friedrich returns from suspension to give Fischer a boost in central defence. However, Akaki Gogia and Sheraldo Becker are missing from the squad, while Laurenz Dehl and Maurice Opfermann Arcones have taken part in a small amount of training. Christopher Lenz withdrew from training on Wednesday and his fitness will be assessed in the final sessions. Meanwhile, Yunus Malli returned to full training this week and Fischer believes the attacker is close to being an option. "He has had a long period of suffering, which was not easy for him. But it's really amazing how far he's come already. That surprised us all. He is on his way back and is definitely a topic for the squad," said the coach.
Service: Broadcast information
Supporters in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on BT Sport, while Fox Sports will broadcast the match in the United States. All Bundesliga matches in Canada are live on Sportsnet.
