If you tuned into this game with seven minutes of time added on ticking by, with Danilho Doekhi already playing as a centre-forward and Frederik Rönnow up in the box for a final corner, you would be able to understand what had preceded it fairly well. After Union had dominated large parts of a rollicking first half, it drifted, slowing like a wind-up toy on boxing day. Union fought until the end, but they just couldn’t create a killer blow. As Rani Khedira said after the final whistle, it felt like a goalless draw.

So, it was fitting - or cruel - that the only goal of the day was a beauty. It had to be. 

But  the occasion  wasn't set up for that, and the eight goals in the last two games between the sides hinted at an explosion  to come. The Weserstadion was a sea of differing shades of green at kick off, adding an unplanned poignance to the moving moment’s applause for the former Bremen player and President, Max Lorenz, who had died during the day.

Of course, neither side could allow themselves to be distracted, indeed, Union’s last trip here before last Christmas resulted in a 4-0 loss and the ultimate departure of Bo Svensson. That was something they were determined not to repeat this time around under Steffen Baumgart.

But there would have been a second when their almost 4,000 travelling fans had a touch of déjà vu as they won a corner after two-and-a-half minutes, just as in the 3-1 win over Gladbach at the weekend. It wasn’t to be, and the returning Derrick Köhn drove wide following Mio Backhaus’s punched clearance.

The scorer of that goal, Danilho Doekhi, was back in his more usual position straight after, stepping up out of the back-line to tackle the dangerous Victor Boniface following a lovely piece of skill.

Andrej Ilić, still searching for his first goal of the season – despite leading the league in assists – had the first shot. He caught it well with his right, too, but dragged it just wide from outside the box. Union had started well, and two minutes later it took a marvellous tackle from Senne Lynen (who has of coursealso scored for St. Gilles at the Alte Försterei) to dispossess Ilyas Ansah as he headed off on a diagonal run, the ball at his toe. 

That other returnee, Oliver Burke, cracked a shot away after that, having darted onto Rani Khedira’s perceptive pass into the box as Union started to gain the upper hand, but it was turned around the near post by Backhaus. Ilić rose alone to meet the ensuing corner, heading it powerfully towards goal, but this time it was just an inch too high.

Boniface was also looking for his first goal, and he looked just as keen to get it against the club he scored twice against for Union Royale Saint-Gilloise in the Europa league. First it took a majestic, impeccably timed slide from Leopold Querfeld, coming from nowhere, to stop him before thrashed a volley wide of Frederik Rönnow’s right-hand post.

Burke was causing problems down the right, where Trimmel found him with 17 minutes played; he clipped the ball across for Aljoscha Kemlein, but again the ball flew wide of Backhaus’s goal.

Bremen came closer still when Yukinari Sugawara shot first time, only for Diogo Leite to somehow flick it up and over the bar with his head as the ball flew at terrifying pace. The excellent Leite made his next vital challenge on the Japanese international soon enough again, this time as they met out on Union’s left-hand-side, Leite blocking his attempted cross this time with a swiftly extended right boot.

Rönnow, Union’s last line of defence, was almost caught off guard as Marco Grüll smashed a shot his way, swirling in the wind, and the keeper had to take a second attempt to grab it as it bobbled out of his grasp. Later, he would spring back into his box like a cat after a mouse

Sadly for Ilić, he still wouldn’t break his duck, trudging off feeling unwell after 28 minutes, replaced by Tim Skarke. It was also a problem for Baumgart, as the Serb has made his sefless efforts with his back to goal such a vital part of Union’s play this season. While the newcomer moved out left, Ansah took his place in the middle.

Ironically, in the port town, it took a bit of the wind out of their sails.

The pace dropped as the half hour mark was passed, and as Union recalibrated their plans, but Romano Schmid should have done better when Bremen broke suddenly, underhitting his pass to Grül when he could have put him through with only Rönnow to beat. 

Union roused themselves. Ansah turned Lynen, leaving his head spinning, but with the goal opening in front of him, he slashed the shot just wide. Then, with under a minute remaining, astonishingly, it was Doekhi who came closer still with his head, after Trimmel won, and delivered a corner on the right. 

As the ball beat the back post, but on the wrong side, it was hard to see it as anything other than a fitting metaphor for the game so far.

Union came slower than usual out of the blocks after the break – seasoned watchers will know the furious tempo they like to reappear at - and Jens Sage should have punished them almost straight away. Grüll wriggled his way into a bit of space and found the midfielder in space. But he spun, and shanked his volley, the ball sailing harmlessly up and away.

The guests countered through Burke and Ansah combining, then through Trimmel, but they lacked a little incisiveness in the attack. Fortunately, with Kemlein and Khedira shielding the back three, they were also rarely put under too much pressure in their own box.

After an hour, Baumgart made his first changes, bringing on Andras Schäfer and Tom Rothe for Köhn and Kemlein, but their first job was to watch on as Boniface smashed a free kick into the wall, then batter the follow up into the crowd in the box. Rothe, particularly, added impetus on the left, but on the opposite side Burke was still striving against his former club. Koulibaly first blocked his cut-back, then took his legs from under him. Grüll flattened him with 20 minutes to go, earning a yellow card as Union’s Scot still lay sprawled on the floor. Some of the treatement meted out to him was brutal.

But just as they thought they were getting back in it, Grül popped up on the right-hand side. It had already started to look like it would take a goal of a certain majesty to make the breakthrough, and so it proved to be. He cut inside and bent the finest of efforts into the top corner, the ball kissing the underside of the bar on its way in. It wasn’t to be Union’s night, and the check for offside as the ball was hit over the top went Bremen’s way by a hair's breadth. 

With ten minutes remaining, Baumgart had a final throw of the dice. He took off Leite and Trimmel, replacing them by Wooyeong Jeong and Janik Haberer, switching to a back four, but still neither side looked much like breaching the other’s defence again. They now looked like two old boxers, flailing away, if Bremen knew they were ahead on points.

Skarke drew a save from Backhaus but didn’t make him dive. Rothe attacked down the left but couldn’t keep his cross down. Jeong’s free kick towards the back post sailed out, unimpeded by anyone. With seven minutes added on, Doekhi was now up front, loitering in the box as Union desperately tried to get back into things.

As Union threw everyone forwards, Justin Njinmah should have scored after Keke Topp’s break, but Rönnow came out and snuffed out the threat. It was the first chance they'd created in a long time, however. It was after this that the keeper appeared in the Bremen box as Yeong lined up a corner, his efforts mirroring that of his teammates. 

But the players saluted the magnificent fans after the final whistle, wearing their long black coats like shrouds, their thoughts already turning to Wednesday and the visit of Bielefeld in the Cup. It just wasn't to be. 

‘To be honest, our game changed after Andrej was substituted. He is very important, wins a lot of balls and makes us better. Nevertheless, we should have been calmer and more consistent going forward. We could have got more out of the game,’

"It's a game that could have ended 0-0, but it didn't because of one piece of play. We were actually in a secure position, so it still hurts. Of course, we missed Andrej, but we have to make sure that we are still creative and get into the penalty area,‘

’In my opinion, this is a game that didn't deserve a winner. We had good opportunities on the counterattack, but we didn't always make the right decisions. It was a reasonable performance from us, but we lost in the end. We will continue on our path undeterred,"