April 29, (THEWILL) – Union Berlin was in action, but Urs Fischer’s side suffered a major setback in their quest to qualify for the Europa League after a 1-1 draw with Greuther Furth at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei on Friday night.
Union understood that a win against the league’s worst team would put them in a position to qualify for the Europa League. After defeating RB Leipzig in their previous league match, the Iron Ones came into the game in high spirits.
What was meant to be a walk in the park for Fischer’s team, however, turned into a difficult game for the hosts. Awoniyi was paired up front with last week’s hero Sheraldo Becker by the Swiss.
Both strikers struggled, however, as Greuther held them off admirably. Awoniyi was on the field for 70 minutes, but only had one shot on target and three off target. In addition, he only had 20 touches in the game.
The 24-year-old, who leads the team in the scoring charts with 13 goals, has not scored in his team’s last three games. Despite playing as favourites at home, Union got off to a slow start, with Greuther controlling possession.
And they were made to pay for their sluggish start, as Branimir Hrgota’s strike in the 33rd minute gave the away side, who are in the red zone of relegation from the Bundesliga, the lead.
Union began the second half looking for an equaliser. The Iron Ones played with more urgency in the second half than in the first, and they dominated possession. Greuther, on the other hand, stood firm in the back and refused to budge.
With 20 minutes remaining, Fischer chose to replace Awoniyi and Niko Giesselmann with Sven Michel and Niko Giesselmann, respectively.
And, as was the case last weekend, the substitutes made an early impact, with Michel restoring parity for the home side only two minutes after coming on. Union’s game was given new life by Michel’s strike, but despite their best efforts, they were unable to find a winner.
Fischer’s team now is sixth on the table with 51 points from 32 games, one point behind Freiburg, who play on Saturday. However, Union could find themselves down to seventh by the end of the weekend if Koln defeats Ausburg on Saturday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
