Having lost the last four games of pre-season, Steffen Baumgart wasn’t leaving much to chance in the first proper game of his first full season as head coach at 1. FC Union Berlin. This time last year, Union had laboured through their victory against Greifswald, and he couldn’t have that. He had laid down a marker, sending out three strikers, looking to put his fourth division opponents under pressure as soon as possible.

That it was two defenders and a midfielder who bagged the first half goals mattered little. “The preparation was the preparation” he had said before kick off. Nothing mattered until now, and his side batted away their determined opponents.

But if he wanted to see a quick start from his side, FC Gütersloh looked to do just the same, unnerving their guests, and the first chance would fall to Patrik Twardzik, finding the ball central enough, just outside the box, but he dragged his shot wide with his left foot. After some strong play from Ilyas Ansah on Union’s left, Julius Langfeld sprinted his way into another decent position after ten minutes, but again he got nothing on his shot, and it wormed along the floor to Frederik Rönnow.

Gütersloh were fighting for every ball, and when Trimmel tried to launch a ball towards their box, packed to the rafters, it was repelled with ease, drawing another roar from the home support who revelled in every single challenge.

Ansah, the standout player in red and white in the opening exchanges, however, won Union’s first free kick in a dangerous area after 15 minutes as he brought down a high ball on his toe beautifully, taking it on the turn, drawing the foul. Leopold Querfeld thrashed his consequent effort from 25 yards just over the bar, but it was a shot across the bows unheeded.

Björn Rother brought Ansah down from an even better position after 18 minutes, if the decision wasn’t quite as crystal clear for the referee, Jarno Wienefeld, to make. Skov – who had stood over the one before - took it this time, whipping the ball low, across goal with his left, and inside the far post

And with the first goal in seven hours of football scored, you could see the pressure fall away from them. At the drinks break – it was still 30 degrees at pitch level, even as the sun drifted towards the horizon on a beautiful evening – Baumgart was quiet, keeping his council, and the biggest threat that would follow came when Rönnow had to take Skov’s backpass on the chest, the sun in his eyes all the way. At the other end Oliver Burke was involved as David Winke and goalkeeper, Tim Matuschewsky, crashed together in a heap.

Union made it two after 35 minutes when Trimmel launched a corner in from the left. The captain hit the ball hard, and true, and it swung through the box, beating Danilho Doekhi for height at the near post. It was hit with wicked dip, though, and dropped suddenly onto the boot of Querfeld who caught it first time with his right, giving Matuschewsky no chance as the ball flew back past him, rising all the way into the back of the net.

Burke had struggled to make an impact initially, but he grew in confidence and showed his lightning pace with a couple of minutes of the half to go, winning a corner on the right. Again, Trimmel took it, and again he caused havoc in the box, this time as Ilić rose to flick a header on, before Danilho Doekhi crashed a shot goalwards as he fell. The Dutchman had hit it into the crowd, where Rani Khedira got the final touch as the ball flew past Matuschewsky to make it 3-0 for Union.

But even as he peeled away in celebration, the vice-captain seemed to be saying he knew nothing of the goal, laughing it away, shaking his head though he’d be given the ultimate credit for it in the end. At the break, the 4,000 strong away crowd were all smiles. Their banners, hung unsteadily in the trees behind the stand, shook with every word they sung.

Baumgart sent the same side out after the break, but he would be forced to take off Rönnow almost immediately. After a break, Matheo Raab took his place, and with it made his competitive debut for the club. 

But though Gütersloh tried to break through, their efforts were all hacked away, first by Doekhi, then Schäfer, acrobatically, then Querfeld. Raab, however, did do well when Aleksander Kandic tricked his way towards squeezing off a shot, but he had little space left to create and angle to shoot. The Philippine international, Sandro Reyes, flashed his shot wide after 55 minutes.

Union had maybe taken their foot off the gas a little since the break – at least the heat had slowed their charge -  and Rothe had to show all of the qualities that has made Baumgart convinced of his ability to play as a part of a  back three when he  covered yards before timing a  wonderful sliding challenge, stopping Twardzik in his tracks with an hour played.

Doekhi came within a hair’s breadth of scoring the goal he’d been denied five minutes later, when he headed the next of Trimmel’s corner’s wide of the back post. Skov then raced half the pitch before trying to set Ansah free, but his pass didn’t quite have enough on it for the striker to run onto. The Dane drew a good stop from Matuschewsky shortly afterwards, but it was his last touch before Baumgart rang in the changes, taking him off alongside Burke for Janik Haberer and Alex Král.

And though the game was by now drifting, Haberer would still make an impact, turning his man on the right, and sending a low ball into the box where Ilić met it at the near post, getting in ahead of Winke. He had fought all day, showing his strength when standing up tall, as this was the kind of finish one has grown to expect of the Serbian since his breakthrough coincided with Baumgart’s arrival after Christmas.

Tim Skarke and Wooyeong Jeong replaced the excellent Ansah and Rothe with just over five minutes to go. Jeong skipped past one on his way to drawing a stop from Matuschewski almost as soon as he’d come on, but he would round things off with three minutes of the seven added on played. Ilić turned provider this time, hitting the byline and cutting back for the Korean to stab home from the closest of range.

On Thursday in his press conference Baumgart had talked of his love of this competition, and how he attends the final every year, come  what may. His side have got a long way to go before he starts thinking about being there for work. But they had, at least, made the smoothest of starts.

"I was delighted to be able to help the team with a goal. Against an opponent like that, who throws everything at you, every goal is important. If only to give yourself more confidence. We rewarded ourselves for our performance today, keeping a clean sheet and scoring the goals up front."

"That feels good. It's always difficult in the cup, no matter who you're up against. We tried not to let Gütersloh play their game and always wanted to get behind their back line. Overall, we implemented a lot of our game plan very well, so it was a successful evening."

"We wanted to progress and we did so in commanding fashion. Regardless of how the goals were scored, we implemented a lot of what we set out to do. The plan was to play clear and solid football. The goals also came at the right moments, so I'm very satisfied."