Union wins friendly against Norwich City
2-1 on neutral ground:
At the end of the ten day training camp in North-Rhine-Westphalia 1. FC Union Berlin beat English Championship side Norwich City Football Club 2-1. Kenny Prince Redondo (43.) and Norwich’s Timm Klose (OG, 68.) provided the goals for Union, James Rhodes scored for Norwich (58.).
1. FC Union Berlin:
Gikiewicz (66. Moser) – Trimmel (66. Lenz), Dietz (80.) , Friedrich (59. Schößwendter), Reichel (66. Kurzweg) – Prömel (74. Kahraman), Schmiedebach (66. Parensen), Hartel (66. Zejnullahu) – Gogia (66. Hedlund), Andersson (59. Wright), Redondo (74. Taz)
Norwich City FC:
Matthews – Marshall, Godfrey, Klose (72. Zimmermann), Aarons (72. Husband) – Passlack (72. Hernandez), Thompson (72. Leitner), Cantwell, Pukki (80. Srbeny) – McLean, Rhodes
Referee: Henrik Bramlage
Attendance: 750
Goals: 1:0 Redondo (43.), 1:1 Rhodes (58.), 2:1 Klose (68. OG)
Urs Fischer’s team started with lots of offensive power into the match and got off two shots on goal within the first five minutes. They were aggressive in the 50-50 situations and dictated possession on the uneven surface at “Stadion Laumeskamp”. A short water break after 26 minutes helped Norwich to change the momentum. The team of NCFC’s German manager Daniel Farke now defended a little higher, which opened up room for Union’s counter attacks. One of those situations led to the 1-0-lead for Union: Lars Dietz played a long ball from deep inside Union’s half, Kenny Prince Redondo chased after the bouncing ball and got his head to it before hesitating NCFC-goalie Remi Matthews could put his hands out (43rd).
Both teams re-entered the field without any half-time subs. Only minutes into the second half, Redondo almost got his second goal of the day, but Matthews got a finger on the attempt from outside the box and pushed it against the post. On the other end, Ex-Dortmund player Felix Passlack set up his teammate Jordan Rhodes with a run through the Union defense. Rhodes had no problems to convert Passlack’s cross to make it 1-1 (58th). Union-manager Urs Fischer subbed in and out six players in the 67th minute. Moments later, a throw in bounced off Timm Klose’s head, hit the far post and landed in the back of the net (68th). Union managed to preserve the 2-1 advantage despite being a man down – Lars Dietz went out of the game in the 80th minute with no more subs on Union’s bench.
“We saw the right approaches throughout the whole game, even the number of chances we had was good. I am pleased with today’s performance. We played strong, the organisation and processes worked well, but we can’t rest on this result. It was only a friendly”, said Urs Fischer after the game.
Union’s next match is coming up quickly, a friendly against French first division side Girondins Bordeaux on Saturday, July 21, 2018. It’s taking place at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei with kick-off at 6pm and is presented bei the IFA – Berlin’s international Communications Conference. Tickets are available for pre-sale and on game day.
