Union sinks again, fans celebrate Coach Fischer
Despite backing for coach Urs Fischer, Union Berlin's nightmare run just won't end. The badly battered Köpenickers lost 3:0 (0:2) to a highly efficient Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday, conceding their twelfth consecutive competitive defeat. As a relegation scenario becomes ever more real, the pressure on the club and coach is mounting.
Omar Marmoush (2nd/14th) with his fifth and sixth goals of the season and Nacho Ferri (82nd) plunged Berlin deeper into the crisis. Although the Union players fought passionately and the club supported Fischer in the run-up to the game, the questions about the coach are unlikely to abate. Because the tasks are not getting any easier. On Wednesday (18:45/DAZN), the Champions League exit threatens at SSC Napoli.
"We would be ill-advised"
Before the game, Union president Dirk Zingler had publicly backed his coach Fischer, which he repeated on Sky shortly before kick-off: "We would be ill-advised to send one of the best coaches in the Bundesliga home." When Fischer appeared for his interview 30 minutes before the game, the Union fans also celebrated him with chants, which he applauded with a smile. But the expressions of solidarity were followed by a disastrous false start.
Even before Union could pose a threat for the first time, the Berliners failed to clear a Fares Chaibi free-kick. In the turmoil, Marmoush scored flatly from the edge of the penalty area. Fischer again tried a back three compared to the 1-0 defeat in the DFB Cup at VfB Stuttgart, with Leonardo Bonucci, Robin Gosens and the recently suspended David Fofana moving into the starting eleven. However, the susceptibility to errors in defense remained a problem.
Nothing fits together offensively
A long ball from Frankfurt's Tuta to Hugo Larsson easily undermined the Union defense and the Swede crossed from the right to Marmoush, who only had to slide the ball in. And offensively? The front three of Benedict Hollerbach, Sheraldo Becker and Fofana struggled to bring their speed to the pitch, but lacked the final touch.
First, Fofana (18) failed to clear a shot that looked more like a return to Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who had returned from back pain, and a minute later the Ivorian headed a cross from Union captain Christopher Trimmel onto the crossbar. Apart from a few crosses, the hosts had hardly come up with any playful solutions until the break. It was only logical that Trimmel (41) tested Trapp with a long-range shot.
After a tepid start to the second half, Fischer brought on international striker Kevin Behrens for Hollerbach, which promptly made Union more compelling. Behrens (57) narrowly missed a cross from Becker, before Trapp deflected a powerful low shot from Fofana around the post just two minutes later. A Behrens header (68) from Aissa Laidouni's cross was also just a few meters to the left. Ferri, who had come on as a substitute eight minutes earlier, then made everything clear.
Source: www.ntv.de
