"Intensity, passion, mindset, attitude" were the four qualities that SC head coach Julian Schuster said he wanted to see from his side during their trip to Köpenick. His players clearly took the message to heart, with Junior Adamu being shown a yellow card just 40 seconds into the match, following a foul on Andras Schäfer.

Schuster made six changes to his starting line-up following the 3-1 win at Fortuna Düsseldorf in the DFB-Pokal in midweek. Noah Atubolu returned between the sticks in place of Florian Müller, with Max Rosenfelder coming in for the suspended Philipp Lienhart at centre-back. Jordy Makengo and Philipp Treu were brought in at full-back in place of Christian Günter and Lukas Kübler, while Lucas Höler and Adamu began in attack instead of Yuito Suzuki and Igor Matanovic. Patrick Osterhage and Eren Dinkci both missed the match due to injury.

SC enjoyed more of the ball in the opening moments of the match but were limited to testing their opponent with long-range shots, as Union defended deep in their own half. Schäfer was able to force Atubolu into making a save after getting on the end of a corner (10'), before Johan Manzambi also tested Union shot-stopper Frederik Rönnow with a similar effort from 20 metres out just a minute later.

Ginter has a goal chalked off

"We did what we set out to do," Schuster said about the first half. "We were alert when it came to winning the second balls and that allowed us to mount attacks of our own. We were dominating and enjoyed the bulk of possession. The only thing missing was a goal, which we would have deserved."

SC were accompanied by around 2,500 fans from Freiburg, who thought that their side had taken the lead in the 17th minute. A corner from Niklas Beste was headed into the back of the net by Matthias Ginter, but the goal was later disallowed after the VAR spotted that the defender had touched the ball with his arm. Six minutes later, Höler got on the end of a pass from Adamu, but his touch was slightly too heavy, allowing Rönnow to make the save from a tight angle.

Mid-way through the first half, much of the action was concentrated in midfield. Adamu was fortunate to avoid picking up a second yellow in the 31st minute after taking down Rani Khedira, with Schuster reacting with his first substitution of the afternoon. Matanovic came on to replace the attacker. Beste was unfortunate to not find the back of the net from a tight angle after getting on the end of a pass from Maximilian Eggestein, but had to watch as his shot went just wide (38'). The two sides headed into the dressing room still deadlocked at 0-0.

Union also have a goal ruled out

The second half continued on in a similar vein to the first, with plenty of breaks in play due to fouls. Both sides looked to pose a threat from set pieces, with Höler heading a Vincenzo Grifo corner just over the bar in the 54th minute. Nine minutes later, substitute Christopher Trimmel delivered a corner that was met by Andrej Ilic, who poked the ball over the line. Following a VAR check, the goal was also ruled out due to Khedira being in an offside position and obstructing Atubolu's view.

FCU sought to use Trimmel's set plays to generate a threat on goal, with the Union captain delivering a strong free kick into the box. Leopold Querfeld was able to lay it off for Ilyas Ansah, with the substitute failing to convert after finding himself one-on-one with Atubolu (71').

Derry Scherhant was brought on for SC in the 74th minute and nearly made an immediate impact just 11 minutes later. The attacker sent a free kick up the pitch that was flicked on by Eggestein before falling to Matanovic, but the latter's header was parried by Rönnow. In the end, both sides had to settle for a point apiece in a 0-0 draw. SC now find themselves in 11th place with 10 points. "The second half was very chaotic and there were several breaks in play," said Schuster afterwards. "We lost our control over proceedings and Union were able to pose a threat from set pieces. The team managed to keep a clean sheet, which I'm happy with."

SC will be back in action on Thursday evening as they travel to face OGC Nice on matchday 4 of the UEFA Europa League (18:45 CET).

Photo: Ottmar Winter