This week saw the start of the second half of the season in the second Bundesliga and in the last game of this match day, fourth-placed Union Berlin received second-placed 1.FC Köln.
A promising game, as both teams had to win in order not to lose sight of the table top, since front-runner HSV could narrowly win their home game and might even manage to extend their lead.
Köln has reinforced themselves in the winter break quite properly and is working with full power on the big goal of immediate re-promotion. So far they had quite some setbacks and are running behind their expectations.
And in this game the returned striker Anthony Modeste still had to take a seat on the tribune, as he is not yet eligible to play.
There are still some matters to be solved with his former team in China Tianjin Quanjian, which he left at the end of last year. Both parties have sued each other, but the officials in Köln deeply hope that this matter will be settled within the next two weeks, to get this important player back into the squad.
The Alte Försterei was of course sold out once again with over 22,000 spectators and most of them could already cheer for the first time this night just shortly after kick-off. It took only 25 seconds until the host took the lead.
After some solid groundwork by Suleiman Abdullahi, Marcel Hartel scored a dream goal after first stopping the ball with his chest and then showing a beautiful falling overhead kick.
A cold shower for Köln but a dream start for Union Berlin!
Köln had to make the game now, but for the time being they had problems finding themselves. The few dangerous actions were quickly defused by the Union defence and goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz. The guests continued to struggle and had to accept the next setback shortly thereafter, since Union managed to do their job in front of their opponent's goal far better.
In the 30th minute, it was defender Florian Hübner who scored a header after a free-kick cross and raised the score to 2-0. Shortly thereafter, the Köpenicker almost scored the next goal, but their chip was cleared just in time on the goal line. Until the break, it was the guests who seemed to have finally woken up, but who could not really manage anything measurable.
After the break the spectators saw a FC Köln, which was attacking over and over, but also failed early and brought nothing really dangerous close to the Berlin goal. A counterattack would have almost brought the 3-0 for Union, but this time Köln's defense was on guard and prevented worse.
In the 66th minute Unions Ken Reichel saw the yellow-red card, but even the 25 minutes having a numeral average could Köln not use to turn the game in their favor. In particular goal scorer Terodde remained invisible this time and in the end it took revenge for Köln that they couldn't make anything out of the chances they had in the course of the game.
Except for the spectators in the crowded guest block, the Alte Försterei was once again on fire and the amazing fans of the 1.FC Union Berlin can now continue to dream of celebrating such kind of victories in the first league next season. The supporters are definitely ready for such adventure.
Much will of course depend on how Union will perform in the next games, especially away from home, and whether it will be possible to get on such a impressive run as in the first half of the season. Except for the last game in Aue, the Berliners had been unbeaten until the winter break. Now it's time to forget this lapse and confirm their ambitions for promotion to the highest German league with further victories.
I keep my fingers crossed and hope for many more magical minutes in the Alte Försterei. And even if it might not be enough in the end, in the future too you will still hear the well-known battle cry from countless husky throats.
It only takes one to strike it up to animate all the others to join in with all their might:
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