Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin made a mistake at bottom VfL Bochum and now FC Bayern Munich is breathing down their necks. The surprise team of coach Urs Fischer conceded an unexpected 1: 2 (0: 1) on Sunday and is only one point ahead of Germany’s record soccer champions.
Bochum draws hope in the relegation battle after another coup against a top team with seven points.
Philipp Hofmann shortly before the break (43rd minute) and substitute Gerrit Holtmann (71st) scored the goals in front of 25,460 spectators for VfL, who had celebrated a 3-0 win over Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt two weeks ago. Substitute ex-Bochumer Milos Pantovic (90. 3) scored for Union shortly before the end. Previously, he failed with a penalty kick from goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. For Union, who had previously kept a clean sheet in five competitive games in a row, on Thursday in the Europa League against Sporting Braga (6.45 p.m.) there are important points in the fight to reach the knockout stages.
Union relies on “safety first”
Union coach Fischer also relied on the proven 3-3-2-2 system and the appropriate staff in Bochum. Compared to the 2-0 win against Heidenheim in the cup, regular keeper Frederik Rönnow and Paul Jaeckel, captain Christopher Trimmel, Rani Khedira, Niko Gießelmann and Jordan were back in the starting XI. As always, Union capitalized “safety first” and left the initiative to Bochum. The previous bottom of the table tried to find a gap in particular through Jordi Osei-Tutu, who had replaced Holtmann in the starting line-up. VfL did not succeed in that over long stretches, nor did Union.
But Bochum stayed tuned – and was rewarded. Osei-Tutu used one of Knoche’s rare mistakes and tested Union keeper Rönnow with a shot from 16 meters. Hofmann headed the following corner from Philipp Förster to score his third goal of the season. The commitment of the hosts was rewarded. However, Bochum was also lucky when referee Deniz Aytekin only drew a yellow card against Ivan Ordets (18th) after a violent foul on Berlin’s Janik Haberer. Haberer had to leave the field in the 20th minute, and Pantovic came on for him.
No prescription against passion of the hosts
The second half showed that Union struggled to make the game after going behind. That was already evident in the first defeat of the season in Frankfurt (0:2) and also in Bochum. Berlin had hardly any recipe against the passion of the hosts. Pantovic had the first chance to score, but his shot went wide. Almost in return, Osei-Tutu was unlucky with a shot on the crossbar.
The coronation for the home side was the 2:0 by Holtmann after an exemplary counterattack via Christopher Antwi Adjei – and the saved penalty by goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. Pantovic’s 1:2 following a corner came too late for the guests.
11. matchday Bundesliga table soccer Bundesliga squad VfL Bochum squad Union Berlin information about the game
