Marius Bülter double helps defeat First Vienna FC
Union in Austria:
1. FC Union Berlin wrapped up pre-season preparations in Austria with a comfortable 3-1 win over First Vienna FC at the Stadion Hohe Warte.
The fourth-tier team from capital, Austria's oldest football club, marked their 125th birthday and Urs Fischer's promotion-winning side were invited to toast the success.
Marius Bülter scored two goals in the first half with Sebastian Polter adding the second of the night in between. The home side pulled one back early after the restart, which saw Fischer completely change his team. Substitute Anthony Ujah fired Union's fourth past First Vienna's sub keeper with 17 minutes left to play.
1. FC Union Berlin XI: Gikiewicz (Nicolas); Trimmel (Friedrich), Dietz (Rapp), Parensen (Schlotterbeck), Reichel (Hartel); Schmiedebach (Kroos), Gentner (Lenz); Mees (Dehl), Bülter (Andrich), Ingvartsen (Kade); Polter (Ujah)
First Vienna presented Union with their last challenge of the training camp in Austria. Fischer's team defeated second-tier clubs SV Ried and Blau-Weiß Linz with relative ease over the weekend, allowing the boss the chance to experiment with his strongest options. In that time, the likes of Neven Subotic and Suleiman Abdullahi have joined up late with the squad. At the Stadion Hohe Warte, Union's new-look 3-5-2 formation saw Ken Reichel start as central defender with Bülter taking up his role on the left-flank. The on-loan Magdeburg player netted on 13 minutes and Polter headed in from a corner kick two minutes later. Joshua Mees thrived in his inside-left position and the Union number 8 threatened, but saw his 25-yard shot hit the post on 24 minutes. First Vienna's defence held firm to stop a third goal before half-time as Marcus Ingvartsen struggled to get the ball out of his feet with the goal gaping. Bülter finished emphatically from the left-hand side of the box on the stroke of the interval as the Köpenick club ended the half with a three-goal advantage.
Fischer used the break to swap his entire team, whilst retaining the 3-5-2 formation. As Union looked to settle into the shape and with new faces, First Vienna pulled a goal back through Keisuke Ilda, the striker firing past Rafal Gikiewicz from less than 20 yards out. Union restored their dominance soon after though, and in particular, Julius Kade played a strong role on the break. With Sebastian Andersson's appearance postponed due to fitness, Laurenz Dehl was given a second half opportunity to impress. Dehl played through Ujah on 73 minutes and the Nigerian centre-forward converted – his first goal in Union colours.
1. FC Union Berlin return to Germany at the end of the week and will continue preparations for the Bundesliga kick-off with a friendly game at the home of 2.Bundesliga club Erzgebirge Aue on Saturday afternoon.