Bischofswerdaer FV vs 1. FC Union Berlin
Womens Regionalliga Nordost, 11. Matchday
Bischofswerdaer FV vs
Womens Regionalliga Nordost, 11. Matchday
A Superb End to a Superb Year
Match report
1. FC Union Berlin capped a superb first half of the Regionalliga Nordost season, beating Bischofswerdaer FV 5-0 in heavy snowfall on Saturday afternoon. Sarah Abu Sabbah opened the scoring, followed quickly with goals from Lisa Heiseler and Dina Orschmann. Abu Sabbah made it 4-0 before Heiseler scored Union’s fifth in stoppage time.
1. FC Union Berlin: Hornschuch - D. Orschmann (87. Rurack), K. Orschmann, Niesler, Moraitou - Görsdorf, Heiseler, Frank - Blaschka (66. Reissner), Abu Sabbah, Trojahn (87. Youssef)
Bischofswerdaer FV: Werner - Prill, Salzer, Gries, Kögler - Müller - Rinke, Kasper (73. Gneuß), Salzmann, Wendisch - Fiedler (73. Kubaink)
The team
Union’s head coach Ailien Poese made one change to the that started the 3-0 win in Cup against Türkiyemspor a week and a half ago, Celine Frank replacing Pia Metzker in midfield.
Goals: 0:1 Abu Sabbah (23'), 0:2 Heiseler (26'), 0:3 D. Orschmann (28.), 0:4 Abu Sabbah (50.), 0:5 Heiseler (90+2.)
Attendance: 65
Abu Sabbah breaks through. Heiseler and Orschmann add to their tallies
The LaOla football pitch in Bischofswerda was covered with a layer of snow from the off, and it made things difficult from the start. Union were confident, but the conditions made things hard, especially against a side who were sitting deep in their own half, asking Union to come on to them.
Initially, they created few chances of note while a tenacious Bischofswerdaer looked to counter whenever they could, if without much success.
It took 23 minutes for Sarah Abu Sabbah to put the guests ahead with the first shot on goal. The league’s top scorer tricked her way through, finishing into the top corner from the edge of the box.
The goal seemed to take a weight off the Union players’ shoulders and, as such, within three minutes they scored again. Abu Sabbah and Dina Orschmann knocked the ball between themselves before the latter crossed into the box, straight to the feet of Lisa Heiseler who volleyed home with consummate ease.
Union’s skipper has made a habit of finishing from the peak of midfield, and it is to her credit that she comes even close to the prolific Abu Sabbah at the top of the scorers’ lists.
Union stepped up. Heiseler’s shot after almost half an hour was blocked, but it fell only to the feet of Dina Orschmann, who volleyed home, the keeper with no chance. The hosts had fought hard, in horrible conditions, but Union had taken them apart in five devastating minutes.
Abu Sabbah and Heiseler extend Union’s lead
Shortly after the break, Abu Sabbah made things certain. The centre-forward was set up by Sophie Trojahn beating Bischofswerda goalkeeper Laura Werner five minutes into the second half. Shortly afterwards, only the post prevented Lisa Heiseler from scoring her second goal.
But by then the snow had begun to fall slowing the movement of the ball. It roused Bischofswerda, and they fought tooth and nail, but they still struggled to challenge Union stopper, Sarah Hornschuch, in her first league start for Union.
But with the clock ticking away towards the end of the game (and a superb first half of the season for Union) Sophie Trojahn tried her luck, Werner punching the ball away.
It was far from her only good save. She tipped a shot from Celine Frank around the post shortly afterwards, topped only when she fingertipped Athanasia Moraitou’s 25-yard drive away, two minutes into stoppage time.
The subsequent corner, however, found the head of the towering Zita Rurack. She hit the crossbar, but Heiseler was there to blast the ball over the line to make it 5-0.
Union’s lead over Viktoria is now nine points, and they have the luxury of a winter looking back only on a season of success. Head coach, Ailien Poese said as much after the final whistle.
“We could certainly have scored one or two more goals, but to perform so confidently in those conditions and not concede anything is testament to the fact that we have carried on what we’ve been doing in recent games.”
Both her, her staff and her squad’s focus remains true. They won’t stop until the final whistle is blown.
Union’s Women to Play Bischofswerdaer FV
Match preview
Next Saturday, 25. November, 1 FC Union Berlin’s women’s team will play their last Regionalliga Nordost match of the calendar year when they travel to Bischofswerdaer FV. Kick off on the LaOla football pitch in Bischofswerda is at 13:00
The opponents
Bischofswerdaer FV have been in the Regionalliga Nordost since 2017 and are currently sitting in 10th place, with seven points from nine games. This puts Tino Gottlöber’s side, who has been on the touchline there since the women's section was founded in 2012, just three points above the relegation places.
It has been a somewhat disappointing start, with just the one win – a 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig II - for a club who finished seventh last season. That, however, would still have been considered an upset, as would their draws against Türkiyemspor and Turbine Potsdam II. However, Bischofswerda were recently beaten 3-0 at Hertha BSC and were also eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Saxony Cup against Eintracht Leipzig-Süd the week before.
The head to head
Union have won seven of the side’s eight meetings so far. However, that single 2-1 loss came in front of their home crowd on matchday 11 last season. Nour Youssef had put them ahead, but the Saxons turned the game around with two from set-pieces goals to hand Union only their second league defeat of the season.
Revenge was taken in the return match at Dörpfeldstraße, when Union showed little remorse in their 6-0 win.
The personnel
Head coach Ailien Poese will be without five players on Saturday, with Luca Scheel, Elisa Schindler, Pauline Wimmer, Maria Cristina Lange and Anna Weiß all absent.
The coach’s views ahead of the game
"We're expecting a fighting and well-organised team in Bischofswerda who will want to take advantage of the narrow artificial pitch,” said Union’s head coach, Poese, during midweek. “But we still want to find the gaps, take on the fight and go into the winter break without dropping any points."
Service information
The match will kick off at 13:30 on Saturday at the LaOla football pitch in Bischofswerda (Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Straße 4, 01877 Bischofswerda).
