BERLIN (AP) — Steffen Baumgart oversaw his first win as Union Berlin coach as his team ended its 11-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Goals from Benedict Hollerbach and Robert Skov gave Union its first win since October, and the first at the third attempt since former player Baumgart’s return as coach for the fired Bo Svensson.
“Everyone was aware of the pressure, but the nice thing is that every run ends at some point and maybe one also begins,” Baumgart said.
Hollerbach got the home team off to a great start when he won the ball from Mainz defender Danny da Costa and fired between the legs of goalkeeper Robin Zentner in the first minute.
The visitors were given a prompt way back when Aljoscha Kemlein was penalized for a robust challenge on Jae-Sung Lee.
Nadiem Amiri wasn’t put off by whistles from the crowd as he equalized from the spot in the fifth. Amiri ran past the Union fans with his finger to his mouth, urging them to be quiet, then performed a short dance, prompting a vulgar chant in response.
There has long been animosity between the player and Union fans going back to when Amiri, a Germany player whose parents are from Afghanistan, was allegedly racially abused by Union player Florian Hübner when Amiri was playing for Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. Hübner was later cleared of racial abuse after Amiri told a federation investigation that he could not rule out that different words might have been used, but the bad feeling remained between fans and the player.
Union’s fans quickly forgot about Amiri’s equalizer when Dominik Kohr conceded another penalty for a foul on Hollerbach. Skov duly fired the home team back in front from the spot in the 24th.
It proved to be the winner with Mainz only mounting a threat in the final minutes.
“I don’t know when the last win was, so this does a lot of good,” Hollerbach said. “In that sense, today was a drop in the ocean. We have to just keep going, not to get in another negative spiral.”
Also Sunday, Samuel Essende scored twice to lead Augsburg to a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen in the late game.
League leader Bayern Munich stayed four points ahead of defending champion Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, when both teams won their games against Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively. The league rivals will play in Leverkusen on Feb. 15.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press
