BRANDENBURG — Steffen Baumgart celebrated his inaugural victory as the head coach of Union Berlin, guiding the team to break an 11-match winless streak with a 2-1 triumph over Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
The home side’s success was marked by goals from Benedict Hollerbach and Robert Skov, marking their first win since October and Baumgart’s first victory in his return to the club, succeeding Bo Svensson.
“Everyone felt the weight of the pressure, but the positive takeaway is that every difficult phase ultimately comes to an end, and perhaps a new chapter starts as well,” said Baumgart.
The match kicked off in dramatic fashion, with Hollerbach making an immediate impact as he stole the ball from Mainz defender Danny da Costa and sent it through the legs of goalkeeper Robin Zentner just one minute in.
Mainz quickly found a path back into the game after Aljoscha Kemlein was penalized for a foul on Jae-Sung Lee. Nadiem Amiri stepped up to take the penalty, ignoring the jeers from the Union supporters, and successfully leveled the score in the fifth minute. After scoring, Amiri gestured to the crowd to hush and celebrated with a dance, which in turn prompted a vulgar chant from the fans.
The relationship between Amiri and Union fans has been fraught due to past incidents, notably when he alleged racial abuse against Union player Florian Hübner during his time at Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. Hübner was later cleared of wrongdoing after an investigation, but the tensions between Amiri and the supporters continued to linger.
Despite the equalizer, Union fans quickly refocused as Dominik Kohr committed another foul on Hollerbach, leading to a second penalty for the home team. Skov converted the spot-kick in the 24th minute to restore Union’s lead.
That goal turned out to be decisive, as Mainz struggled to mount any serious threats until the closing moments of the match. “I can’t even remember when our last victory was, so this feels immensely beneficial,” commented Hollerbach. “Today marks just a small step, and we must focus on moving forward to avoid falling into another negative trend.”
In another match on Sunday, Samuel Essende propelled Augsburg to a 2-0 victory against Werder Bremen.
On Saturday, league leaders Bayern Munich maintained their four-point edge over defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, with both clubs achieving victories against Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively. The two teams will face off again on February 15 in Leverkusen.
