Sensational Union Berlin goes top in the Bundesliga with late win over Mainz

Union Berlin’s Jordan thundered in an 84th-minute goal to secure a 2-1 home victory over Mainz 05 on Saturday and send it top of the Bundesliga with their fourth straight league win.

Published : Feb 04, 2023 22:22 IST

Berlin‘s Kevin Behrens, left, celebrates with his teammates after scoring during the German Bundesliga match between Union Berlin and FSV Mainz 05.
Berlin‘s Kevin Behrens, left, celebrates with his teammates after scoring during the German Bundesliga match between Union Berlin and FSV Mainz 05. | Photo Credit: AP
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Berlin‘s Kevin Behrens, left, celebrates with his teammates after scoring during the German Bundesliga match between Union Berlin and FSV Mainz 05. | Photo Credit: AP

Union Berlin’s Jordan thundered in an 84th-minute goal to secure a 2-1 home victory over Mainz 05 on Saturday and send it top of the Bundesliga with its fourth straight league win.

Union moved to 39 points from 19 games, two ahead of Bayern Munich, which can reclaim the top spot with a win at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday. Third-placed Borussia Dortmund is also on 37 points after thrashing Freiburg 5-1.

Union, unbeaten at home this season, has now recorded two more league victories than Bayern but for Urs Fischer’s players, any title talk was irrelevant, with the team more focused on wanting to secure 40 points to make sure they stay up.

“We are enjoying the momentary snapshot, but it is still a long, long way,” said Union captain Christopher Trimmel. “We want to keep staying up there in the top spots there, but we know we have to keep improving if we want to do that.”

“There are a lot of good teams out there who have championship aspirations,” he added.

“Once we reach that goal (40 points) we will sit down and define new goals. We still have a lot of tough matches ahead of us.”

The hosts got off to a strong start, with Jerome Roussillon and Rani Khedira coming close before Kevin Behrens slotted in after 32 minutes for a deserved lead.

Mainz had few chances in the game, but it did get a 78th-minute penalty for handball thanks to a VAR review, and substitute Marcus Ingvartsen netted the equaliser.

It then took Union six minutes to carve out the winner, with Jordan rifling in from close range after Mainz failed to clear a cross, to keep their sensational campaign going. ]

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