The first few minutes of this game were a little scruffy, at least by Union’s high standards, and it was as if they had to shake a few of the cobwebs away from the recent international break. Sitting in second, though, few could deny that they had earned the pause, and as they tried to assert themselves over a game, but limited Ingolstadt side, their intentions were already clear.

It was “a very commanding performance,” said head coach, Ailien Poese, after the final whistle, and with it, Union have made another big step towards the Bundesliga.

With only five minutes played, Athanasia Moraitou whipped a free kick in towards goal from the right, bending inwards, where Dina Orschmann crashed a header goalwards. It took the fingertips of Anna-Lena Daum to flick the ball onto the bar, and it flew away to safety.

Her contact had been perfect, it had been an early let off for the guests and wouldn’t be the last.

Ingolstadt weren’t without their own chances, and Nadja Burkardt reached a free kick – almost the mirror image of Orschmann’s effort – but put her own effort well wide.

Still, Union were the better side, embodied by the returning Marie Becker. Her first touch in months since her injury, was when she brought the ball out with typical elegance, her head up, playing the simplest of balls out into midfield. Her tackle on Stefanie Reischmann with 12 minutes played was both superbly timed and packed a punch, despite the fact it seemed so effortless. It was as if she had never gone away.

They were also starting to get their combinations moving going forwards, and Moraitou found Antonia Halverkamps with a neat ball out right. Lisa Heiseler couldn’t quite get the low cross out from under her feet as she faced goal.

It would all come together as Moraitou nipped on to a loose ball, immediately moving it on to Reissner, who put it neatly in the path of the outstretched boot of the flying Orschmann. Her finish was firm, and though Daum got a touch to it, there was nothing she could do to stop the ball’s path inside the back post. It was her tenth goal of the season

If Orschmann was reliable, often playing with her back to goal, bringing her team-mates into play, the north star by which they guided themselves, Reissner was a whirlwind, continuing her superb form this calendar year. She fashioned another soon after the opener, setting up Halverkamps who flashed a shot just wide as she aimed across goal from the left. Her quick feet left Lisa Ebert lost, swinging for a ball long since vanished. Then, it was all Lea Wolski could do to hold her back with 35 minutes played, shrugging at her inevitable booking, as if to say, “what else was I supposed to do?”

And when Ingolstadt broke, there was always a player there in red to clear up the danger. After 25 minutes it was Schneider’s turn, picking lone striker, Emma Kusch’s pocket before she could get her run going. Then, when Pija Reininger tried to nip in between Pia Metzker and Bösl, Union’s keeper was just quick enough to retrieve the ball, though she took a boot to the head for her troubles.

As the half wore down, Union started to let the ball do some of the work as Becker, Schneider and Frank passed it between themselves, stretching the play as well as the time, daring the Ingolstadt midfield to come at them and leave a gap somewhere else. Their frustration grew, and Ebert, too, picked up a yellow card for a tug on Orschmann as Union’s striker spun away from her in the centre-circle.

The second half kicked off with Eleni Markou taking the place of Marie Becker, the Greek international slipping straight into her predecessors boots with a smart challenge and a simple ball to the ever-reliable Celine Frank, honoured before kick-off for her 100^th Union game. Frank has the hallmark of all good holding midfielders; she ghosts around the pitch; she rarely makes an error. You often barely notice she’s there at all.

With the game’s pace still struggling to get much above placid, Union still had to be careful, and Reininger should have done better when suddenly put through by a long ball out, having got the right side of Schneider. Bösl was out of her box, and had the Ingolstadt players’ lob been more precise, it would have left them with faces as red as their shirts. She snatched at the chance, however, and it drifted slowly wide of the gaping goal.

At the other end, Ina Timmermann had to be quick to bundle Heiseler off the ball as she threatened to shoot from the penalty spot, but it mattered little, because with only ten minutes of the half played, Union doubled their lead.

This time it was Anna Weiß whose bustling run down the left caused panic to break out in the Ingolstadt back-line. But with Orschmann heading for the back post, instead she pulled it back for the onrushing Halverkamps who caught it perfectly, side-footed, first time. The ball sailed into the top corner from the edge of the box. If it wasn’t struck with quite the menace of her goal against Nürnberg, for which she won goal of the month, this was at least as elegant.

The brakes were well and truly off. Orschmann made it 3-0 after 62 minutes when Reissner crossed from the left, sliding in, beating Timmermann to the ball, with Daum in no-man’s land, before Heiseler made it four – and 13 for the season – just two minutes later as she turned on a sixpence and finished clinically past the helpless Daum.

Poese now rung in the changes, first bringing Elli Seiro on for Reissner, before Sarah Abu Sabbah and Korina Janež came on for the scorers, Heiseler and Orschmann. Janež showed another glimpse of her technical abilities almost immediately, dragging her studs over the ball as she spun her way out of the attentions of two looming Ingolstadt midfielders

With time running out, Ingolstadt had their best phase of the game, but they just couldn’t get a break. Though Kusch had the ball in the back of the net with just over 15 minutes to play, having put a sharp, close-range finish past Bösl, she was immediately called offside. Burkart shot at Bösl from distance before the substitute, Paula Vidovic was knocked off the ball by Weiß. Melissa Kuya Strobel managed to get her effort off, but it cannoned into the legs of Schneider, bouncing away to safety.

Poese made two final changes, bringing on Anouk Blaschka for Moraitou with just over five minutes to play, and Union sitting back, safe in the knowledge that they were home and dry, basking in the sunshine, taking in the cheers of the almost 6,700 fans packing the Gegengerade, the next in a long list of record attendances they have set this year in the 2. Liga.

Though most were cautious after the final whistle - “we're happy now, but there were definitely things today that we need to improve on in the last few games,” said Halverkamps - they march onwards; the Bundesliga seems not so far away now. 

"To be honest, we had a bit of trouble getting into the game today. We have to step it up a notch. I felt that we were definitely more stable in the second half, especially in terms of our passing game. So we're happy now, but there were definitely things today that we need to improve on in the last few games."

"We were strong in front of goal today and took our chances. It was particularly dangerous in the second half when we increased the tempo. Overall, it was a very important win and we now want to take the momentum into the next game."

"At half-time, we addressed the fact that we have to be more alert and present in duels. We implemented that well after the break and got into the duels much better. Overall, it was a very commanding performance"