Union Berlin went down to 1.FC Nürnberg at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei with Ewerton’s 11^th-minute header enough to separate the sides.

Andre Hofschneider’s men were cut down to nine before the end with Toni Leistner and Philipp Hosiner dismissed, while Edgar Salli was shown a red card for the visitors.

Similar to the game before in Kiel, Union surrendered the momentum to the visitors, the league’s out-and-out strongest side away from home. A corner kick from Enrico Valentini found Ewerton in the centre of the box and he headed past Daniel Mesenhöler without any problems. An almost identical chance fell to Leistner at the other end, but instead of scoring, he headed high and wayward.

With the lead in the bag, Nürnberg were happy to sit deep and compact, making the most of a 3-5-2 formation to maximise defensive stability. Union enjoyed a good phase of possession but ultimately couldn’t find the breakthrough despite a handful of shooting opportunities for Akaki Gogia.

Union almost levelled at the end of the half with Sebastian Polter turning on a sixpence at the edge of the area before his shot was blocked. The visitors, looking good value for a promotion run this term, led at the interval.

The second half won’t be remembered so much for chances or excellent football, but for the involvement of referee Patrick Ittrich. The Hamburg-based official showed two yellow cards in quick succession for Leistner, who was subsequently dismissed with seven minutes left. One from the end, Hosiner and Salli clashed on the touchline before Ittrich rightly showed both a straight red card.

“Congratulations to Nürnberg, who deserved the win in the end. We had a lot of opportunities in the first half but we aren’t even getting the simple chances right at the moment, which doesn’t make the situation any easier. In the second half, we tried everything, but Nürnberg did well and didn’t afford us many chances. Nevertheless, the team showed great commitment and we need to keep working to get out of the rut,” said the Union boss post-match.

Hofschneider’s side have a lengthy break mid-season of 10 days before their next league encounter on Monday February 5. The side from Köpenick will head to the Alm in Bielefeld to take on another promotion hopeful from Ostwestfalen. Kick-off is scheduled for 20:30.