Union Berlin on Wednesday cut Bayern Munich’s lead on top of the Bundesliga to three points after a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.
Werder, who were thrashed 7-1 by Cologne on Saturday, scored after 13 minutes through Amos Pieper, but the defender turned villan just four minutes later when his poor back-pass found Kevin Behrens, who fed Janik Haberer for the equalizer.
“It was like being between heaven and hell,” Pieper told reporters after the match. “It’s clearly my fault.”
Photo: AP
Union thought they had taken the lead minutes later, but Sheraldo Becker’s strike was ruled out for a handball by Behrens in the buildup.
Behrens was involved again in the first minute of the second half, heading in a corner while unmarked to give Union a valuable lead in their quest for a first UEFA Champions League berth.
Union manager Urs Fischer praised his side, saying they played “masterful and clever football” ahead of Saturday’s city derby with Hertha BSC.
“Thirty-three points halfway through [the season], that’s exceptional. We have the derby coming up on Sunday, we have to be ready again,” he said.
Union took advantage of a 1-1 draw between SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, both of whom could have joined the Berliners in equal second with a win.
Frankfurt’s France striker Randal Kolo Muani scored just before halftime for a 1-0 lead, but Freiburg local boy Matthias Ginter equalized for the hosts two minutes after halftime.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen won their fifth-straight Bundesliga game, beating VfL Bochum at home ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster clash against Borussia Dortmund.
Leverkusen took the lead early through an eighth-minute penalty by Edmond Tapsoba. A second-half goal by Czech striker Adam Hlozek, set up by teenage midfielder Florian Wirtz on his return to the starting 11 from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, saw the hosts claim all three points.
Augsburg lifted themselves out of the relegation playoff places with a narrow 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Earlier, US striker Gio Reyna scored a last-gasp winner in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 victory over FSV Mainz 05, securing the three points deep in stoppage-time.
The 20-year-old also scored the fourth in Dortmund’s 4-3 home win over Augsburg on Sunday.
On Wednesday he tapped in a header with a minute of stoppage-time remaining, sinking a dogged Mainz.
Dortmund were missing the suspended Jude Bellingham and lacked fluency in attack.
Manager Edin Terzic on Tuesday had promised to fix the side’s leaky defense, but Dortmund got off to the worst possible start when Lee Jae-sung gave Mainz the lead in just the second minute.
Lee leaped past winter arrival Julian Ryerson to head in a corner from Edimilson Fernandes, giving the hosts their early lead.
Ryerson, playing just his second match for Dortmund, quickly made up for his error, equalizing just two minutes later with a deflected long-range effort.
After a blistering start, both teams dialed down the intensity for the remainder of the first half.
Terzic made a triple change after 61 minutes, bringing on wingers Reyna and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens — both of whom scored from the bench against Augsburg — alongside returning striker Sebastien Haller.
Haller had the crowd on their feet 10 minutes after coming on when alone on goal near the penalty spot thanks to a pass from Bynoe-Gittens, but was too slow and saw the ball was claimed by Mainz goalkeeper Finn Dahmen.
With the match looking to be petering out into a draw, Reyna pounced on Haller’s assist.
Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt hailed his side’s “emotional victory,” while Terzic tempered his glee with a reality check.
“With almost the last action [of the game] we are the lucky winner, [but] that could have gone in any direction,” he said.
“There is still a lot of work waiting for us,” he added as his team climbed to fifth from sixth.
Mainz manager Bo Svensson, whose side are only four points clear of the relegation spots, lamented Dortmund’s “bitter” late winner, but said “there are many positive things we can take away.”
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