Kroos' late strike earns victory on opening day
Union beat Aue:
Felix Kroos' fantastic free-kick proved to be the difference as 1. FC Union Berlin claimed their first three points of the campaign in a 1-0 win over FC Erzgebirge Aue at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
With a draw the most likely outcome on matchday one of the new season, the 27-year-old stepped up four minutes from the end to convert a set-piece from 25 yards and seal the points for Urs Fischer's team.
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Parensen, Reichel; Prömel, Schmiedebach (Kroos 83), Hartel; Gogia (Hedlund 57), Redondo (Mees 64), Andersson
FC Erzgebirge Aue: Männel; Kalig, Fandrich, Cacutalua, Rizzuto; Kvesic (Rapp 69), Hochscheidt, Tiffert; Bertram (Baumgart 78), Herrmann, Nazarov (Iyoha 85)
Attendance: 21,752
Erzgebirge Aue kicked off the new league season at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei and contributed to a fantastic atmosphere in Köpenick with 1,800 supporters dressed in white and purple. Aue’s goalkeeper and captain Martin Männel was kept a little busy with shots from Akaki Gogia and Marcel Hartel, but nothing was truly clear cut. After a short water break, Aue grew into the game from middle-to-front and created some dangerous situations for Rafal Gikiewicz to deal with. The Polish keeper parried a well-struck free kick from Mario Kvesic away from danger before Dimitrij Nazarov missed from a few yards out.
Like the first half, Männel was one of the busier of Aue’s players, but his role was mainly to impressively pick out every cross ball into the penalty area. Neither side created any gilt-edged opportunities before the hour mark. Fischer dipped into his attacking weaponry and introduced Simon Hedlund and Joshua Mees within seven minutes of each other. The next water break seemed to hinder the players as the flow was taken out of proceedings. With Schmiedebach already booked, Fischer added Kroos to the fray around the 83rd minute to add extra energy to the midfield. The club’s vice-captain instead played the pivotal role in the match, scoring a 25-yard free kick with three minutes left of normal time. He had the opportunity to double his tally from the same position, but wisely opted to run the clock down and help Union wrap up a dream start to the league campaign.
