Union Berlin lose 3-0 at Erzgebirge Aue
First league defeat:
1. FC Union Berlin suffered a league defeat for the first time this season after going down 3-0 at FC Erzgebirge Aue.
Pascal Testroet bagged a hat-trick for Daniel Meyer's team who ran out comfortable winners in the end after a solid first-half performance from Union.
It's the first defeat in 17 league games this campaign under Urs Fischer — and brings an end to an overall unbeaten run which stretches back into the 2017/18 season.
Erzgebirge Aue: Männel; Cacutalua, Breitkreuz, Kusic; Rizzuto, Riese, Fandrich, Hochscheidt; Iyoha (Herrmann 90), Testroet (Baumgart 79), Krüger (Wydra 74)
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Hübner, Friedrich, Reichel; Schmiedebach, Zulj (Kroos 60), Mees (Abdullahi 60), Hartel (Gogia 70); Andersson, Polter
Attendance: 13,800
Florian Hübner and Sebastian Andersson were restored to the starting eleven in Aue with Michael Parensen and Suleiman Abdullahi dropping out. The assault on the Aue goal started from the first whistle with the Köpenick club winning six corners inside 15 minutes. None were converted, and the home side punished Union for their slack finishing. Referee Sven Jablonski opted not to stop play after Christopher Trimmel was bundled to the ground. Emmanuel Iyoha proceeded to run the length of the pitch before setting up Testroet for an easy finish in the sixth minute. Martin Männel’s brave intervention at the feet of Andersson stopped the Swede from levelling the scores on 24 minutes. Jablonski awarded Aue a penalty kick on 30 minutes after the ball struck the arm of Joshua Mees inside the penalty box, with Testroet converting his second of the half. Fischer’s side were handed a mountain to climb, but continued to dominate and create the best opportunities before Jablonski called time on the first 45 minutes.
Around a minute after the restart, Calogero Rizzuto should have put Aue into a three-goal lead, but he was denied by an excellent save from Gikiewicz. Fischer turned to his substitutes on the hour mark with Felix Kroos and Suleiman Abdullahi taking the respective places of Robert Zulj and Joshua Mees. Männel’s outstanding save from Polter’s close-range strike kept the home side in front and a few minutes later, Testroet completed his hat trick with a well-taken bicycle kick. Männel blocked a powerful shot from Marvin Friedrich late in the game as Union were left nursing a first loss since last season.
