1. FC Union Berlin’s women’s team lost 2-1 to the Polish champions Pogon Sczczecin in Sunday’s friendly. Although Union created numerous chances, particularly in the first half, and took a well-deserved lead through Naika Reissner after 25 minutes, Natalia Oleszkiewicz (40‘) and Kornelia Okoniewska (61’) turned the game around for the reigning Polish champions.

1. FC Union Berlin: Wagner – Steinert (67. Heikkinnen), Schneider (84. Markou), Niesler (67. Becker), Metzker (46. Sakar) – Köster (46. Janez), Frank (84. Blaschka)), Moraitou (46. D. Orschmann) – Bauereisen (84. Seiro), Heiseler (84. Halverkamps), Reiss (67. Weiß)

Pogon Stettin: Palinska (46. Radkiewicz) – Kusmierczyk (46. Dygus), Brzozowska (46. Szymasek, Buzan (46. Okoniewska), Radochonska (73. Buzan) – Legowski (73. Brzozowska), Brodzik (62. Crim), Zajmi (46. Swirska) – Giet kowska (62. Leskiewicz), Oleszkiewicz (73. Rybinska), Crim (46. Laniewska)

Attendance: 120

Goals: 1-0 Reissner (25.), 1-1 Oleszkiewicz (40.), 1-2 Okoniewska (61.)

Reissner gives Union a well-deserved lead; The guests equaliser comes out of nowhere

Union started off under chilly blue skies in Dörpfeldstraße looking to set Sczczecin under pressure from the off. After just three minutes, the hosts had their first shot on goal when Naika Reissner set up Celine Frank on the edge of the penalty area, whose shot was parried by Pogon goalkeeper Anna Palinska with the inside of her foot. Union were dominating possession from the off, and largely kept Pogon back inside their own half.

Their next chance came in the 12th minute, when full-back Pia Metzker hit the far post with a powerful shot from a tight angle. Two minutes later, Reissner tested the opposing goalkeeper, Palinska, from the edge of the box, but she was again hit the woodwork. Just three minutes later, the Szczecin defence blocked a shot from Nele Bauereisen after a corner in the nick of time (17’).

After 25 minutes, Union’s intensive efforts were finally rewarded. Leonie Köster, making her home debut, won the ball in the centre circle, whereupon Lisa Heiseler drove the ball forward and served Reissner at the right moment with a through ballReissner snaffled the chance easily.

Just 120 seconds later, the winger almost scored again when sent through by Heiseler. She rounded keeper Palinska, but only hit the post from a tight angle. It wasn’t to be their day. With half an hour played, Bauereisen headed the ball onto the crossbar from near the penalty spot.

Pogon grew into the game after that, but the equaliser in the 40th minute was still not really on the cards. A cross from Jaylen Crim found Natalia Oleszkiewicz in the six-yard box, though, and her header flew into the bottom corner. Goalkeeper Melanie Wagner touched the ball with her fingertips, but couldn’t get enough on it to prevent it from going into the net. The 1-1 scoreline at the break flattered Sczczecin.

Pogon turns the game around – Köpenick's final offensive is unsuccessful

Even after the break, Union remained the stronger team and repeatedly sought to get through to the opposing goal. Pogon defended intensely, however, belying the friendly status of the game. A foul just outside the box gave Union a promising free-kick after an hour, but Heiseler's attempt was parried by Natalia Radkiewicz. A minute later, the Poles unexpectedly took the lead when top scorer Kornelia Okoniewska was played in by Lena Swirska and slotted the ball into the corner from the edge of the box with the inside of her boot.

Union continued to dominate in the second half, but were no longer able to create as many chances as they had in the first half. As the game went on, the game also grew rougher and tougher, with play repeatedly interrupted by stoppages. In the 82nd minute, Heiseler seemed to have the equaliser in sight after a pass from Korina Janez, but she put wide by a hair's breadth.

Union pushed forward again in the remaining, pressing for the equaliser. Newcomer, Elli Seiro made her way into the opposing penalty area in the 88th minute, but Anna Weiß just missed her pass. In added time, Eleni Markou then got to a corner kick, but her header was blocked on the line. Pogon somehow managed to get a body part in the way of all of Union’s efforts, so that the Köpenick team had to settle for the unlucky defeat in the end.

The views on the game

“We have to process the game now,” said Union’s goalscorer, reissner, after the final whistle. “The first half was actually very good from us. I think we lacked a bit of speed and intensity in the second half. The defeat is of course very bitter, because we actually deserved to score a lot more goals.”

Head coach, Ailien Poese, meanwhile, was keen to see the positives: “We've learnt a lot from this game,” she said. “In the first 30 minutes, we did a lot of what we wanted to see. We scored and had an incredibly good grip defensively. We then lost that a bit with the goal we conceded. Of course, we can draw some conclusions from that, especially when the opponent then becomes a bit more aggressive. In the end, we had a few more chances, which unfortunately we didn't take, but ultimately we've learned a lot from the game. We're not satisfied with the result, but we can work well with what we've seen.”

Outlook

After tomorrow's fitness session and a day off on Tuesday, Union will start preparing for the last friendly of this year's winter break on Wednesday. Next Sunday, 2 February, they will face FC Schlieren at Dörpfeldstraße. The game against the Swiss side will kick off at 11:30.