Union lose 0-2 at home to Hoffenheim
Second half strike:
1. FC Union Berlin went down 0-2 against Hoffenheim in the final home match of 2019.
Urs Fischer's team went down to a strike from Ihlas Bebou after 56 minutes and a finish in stoppage time from Christoph Baumgartner.
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Subotic (Abdullahi 79), Friedrich, Hübner; Lenz, Trimmel, Andrich, Gentner; Ingvartsen (Bülter 68), Ujah (Polter 68), Andersson
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann; Posch, Hübner, Samassekou (Nordtveit 60); Kaderabek (Bicakcic 64), Grillitsch, Rudy, Skov; Bebou, Adamyan (Baumgartner 85)
The pre-game discussions of injuries and rotation were muted as Urs Fischer named a similar starting team from the 1-1 draw in Paderborn. Anthony Ujah returned in the place of Marius Bülter up front, while Neven Subotic came back in for Michael Parensen at the heart of the three-man defence. Christopher Lenz took a knock in training this week, but earned his place in the team after the last training session. Goalscoring chances were limited in both penalty boxes with the Köpenick club seeing more luck from set plays. Robert Andrich chased furiously after his own header in the seventh minute to win the first corner, Christopher Trimmel’s cross forcing a save from Oli Baumann but Marvin Friedrich wasn’t able to return the rebound back on target. Christian Gentner met a cross from the Austrian international after 13 minutes but Hoffenheim cleared nervously. On 24 minutes, Trimmel took a quick free-kick, passing into the channel for the industrious Ujah whose shot was blocked by Robert Skov. However with five minutes left in the half, Hoffenheim created the best chance in the first 45. Bebou’s strong run isolated the Union defence into a 1-v-1 situation and Kramaric took control, but the Croatian fired his shot over the bar under pressure from Rafal Gikiewicz.
Alfred Schreuder’s side — who started the night one point above Union — grew quickly into the second half and started to look the stronger outfit. Although the hosts threatened on occasion, Ihlas Bebou struck for Hoffenheim after 56 minutes when his long-range effort took a wild deflection and went over Gikiewicz. Sebastian Polter and Marius Bülter offered a fresh set of ideas in the last half an hour but the chances were kept to a minimum. Gentner’s half-volley was yards past the post and Baumann prevented Sebastian Andersson from scoring with a terrific save on 83 minutes. Hoffenheim put the game to bed in stoppage time on the break with Christoph Baumgartner prodding the ball past Gikiewicz to seal the points.
Nevertheless, Union will have a chance to end the calendar year on a positive note when Urs Fischer’s team head to Fortuna Düsseldorf on Sunday 22 December at 15:30
