The Unioner had saved something special from Union’s birthday celebrations; and what a gem they’d kept under wraps. At kick off the terraces – from the Waldseite to the Wuhlseite, the main stand to the Gegengerade - were draped in faded yellow and red, emblazoned with the images of a hundred legends, a cast of memories. Fireworks thundered behind the stadium lighting up the Köpenick sky. Underneath, as a special gift, they wore thousands of red and white ponchos, revealed as the banners made way.

They were a living, breathing, bouncing tifo. It looked majestic under the lights.

And the omens were good. Union hadn’t lost a game on a Friday in ten; if the asterisk next to this stat was that the last one, back in 2019, was away at Eintracht Frankfurt. And after an impressive performance, particularly at the back, that had seen them go a goal down against the run of play, they can now call that 11.            

Away from the distractions, down on the pitch, Union looked to set the tone early, with Aljoscha Kemlein raking a pass out left for Derrck Köhn, his cross into the middle thwarted as Ilyas Ansah was hurled to the ground just outside the box. It mattered little, the referee. Sören Storks waved his appeals away.

The excellent Stanley Nsoki, making his first start in the back three, was similarly quick out of the blocks when Mario Götze advanced down the right, blocking his cross as soon as it left his boot. Impressive, he would guide Arnaud Kalimuendo off the ball with all his might later as they hit the Union byline together.

With ten minutes gone, the celebration – still roaring - reached its peak, with dozens of flares burning across the stands, the smoke billowing onto the pitch and forcing a stop to play for five minutes.

Kemlein was as electric as the atmosphere, snaffling the ball in midfield, finding Wooyeong Jeong, and taking the return to the right of the Eintracht box, his shot cannoning away off Nathaniel Brown and away.

But though the pace was frenetic in midfield, with Union pressing high and hard, neither side had really forced a shot yet, it was all hustle; a simmering pot yet to boil, and Kalimuendo was booked after kicking the ball away, having impeded Frederik Rönnow as they challenged for a high ball the Union keeper was always winning.

They tore into each other in the middle as the half wore on, Oscar Höjlund winning the ball, but taking a chunk off Ansah’s heels after another snapping Andras Schäfer intervention in the centre circle. Danilho Doekhi made it back just in time as Brown found himself in a tiny pocket of space after Götze’s perceptive pass.

After Ansah was again brought down by Höjlund, Christopher Trimmel lined up the free kick, 35 yards out from goal, towards the left-hand side. Keeper, Kauã Santos, punched it away, but with a certain uncertainty, sprawling, one-handed, scuffing the ball rather than landing a knock-out blow, and Union continued their attack. The stopper did better the next time, holding Jeong’s cross with both hands, taking no further risks.

At the other end, Farès Chaibi put his shot from 25 yards wide, the ball watched by a guardful Rönnow all the way past his post.

Kemlein came closest yet, when, having seen Trimmel’s corner cleared, he volleyed it at hip height, with gorgeous technique, sending the ball rocketing towards the underside of the bar, but Kauã Santos did brilliantly, somehow tipping it over at full stretch, his back arcing, his fingers grasping. Ansah then hit his own volley wide after Robin Koch’s lackadaisical header found him alone with the whole goal to aim at, if not the time to really weigh it up.

With seven minutes added on to the end of the half, Union now dominant, the guests pushed deeper back into their own box. Koch nodded out for a corner to ward off the threat of Ansah. Though Arthur Theate made the most of it, Storks made little of Schäfer’s high boot in the Eintracht box in the chaos that followed. Union had been the better side as the players went down the tunnel.

Union started off the second half much as they’d ended the first, harrying the Frankfurt players back with the ball, crowding them immediately when they didn’t. Jeong and Trimmel combined, the skipper finding Doekhi charging into the box, looking to cut inside and shoot; Schäfer half-volleyed over the bar with his right when Trimmel was also ready to strike it with his left.

Frankfurt had their first chance of the half as Höjlund flashed his shot wide after Brown cleverly played him in, getting behind the Union defence for the first time. It heralded a period of play where the guests were seeing more of the ball than Union, but still they struggled to find a way through their resolute defences, and when Leopold Querfeld stepped out to rob Kalimuendo, he found Kemlein, as calm and cool as you like, happy to spin back into safety to clear the ranks.

Indeed, after Querfeld saw his diving header at the other end saved by Kauã Santos, and the break quickly sprung by Eintracht, Trimmel and Nsoki, the last men back, took care of Kalimuendo with the greatest of ease, leaving the striker forlorn on the floor and the ball moving back up the pitch.

Steffen Baumgart made his first changes with 20 minutes to play, replacing Ansah and Jeong, like-for-like, with Livan Burcu and Ilyas Ansah. Burcu was straight into the thick of things, hitting the byline and winning a corner, only to see Schäfer wrestled to the ground in the box by Höjlund. Again, Union’s pleas were summarily dismissed.

Burcu, this time popping up on the left after Khedira had won another muscular challenge against Rasmus Kristensen, fed Köhn on the overlap, waiting before weighting his pass just right. He took a touch and caught his shot superbly, but it crashed into the near post, flying away as the full-back held his head already in his hands, disbelievingly.

Union were, however, to go a goal down with under ten minutes to go. Having dealt with a cross from the right as they had all evening long, the stray ball dropped to Brown, just on the edge of the box. He caught his volley superbly, giving Rönnow no chance.

But within two minutes it all changed again, as Höljund saw a second yellow card for his foul on Khedira in the box. Storks pointed immediately to the spot. Despite Kauã Santos’s efforts at disquieting him as he held the ball, coming up to the Union centre-half and having a word or two, Querfeld kept his cool. Staggering his run, he hit it firmly enough to see the ball squirm under the keeper, who guessed right.

Union were back in it, and Ilić saw his shot deflected just wide after Alex Král – on for Kemlein just previously – fed him inside the box. Burcu then won the next free kick, brought down by Kalimuendo 25 yards out, as he raced goalwards. Taking the set-piece himself, he clipped it over the box but could only find the side netting. The luckless Ilić then hit over, having turned Aurele Amenda and shooting with his left from an angle. 

For all their efforts, there was to be no further drama, no more goals. But the fans celebrated, nonetheless. As the players had fought tooth and nail, never letting their heads drop, even after the opener, they had, too, contributed to a fantastic night at the Alte Försterei. And another Friday unbeaten. 

We're happy to take the point. It was a tough game. Frankfurt had a lot of possession and tried a lot, but we defended consistently. We were better in the second half, the 1-0 was a bit unfortunate from our point of view. The penalty situation then played into our hands, we wanted even more after that and also had some good chances." 

‘We played against a very good team that keeps the ball in their own ranks. After they took the lead, we came back strongly and responded with the equaliser. In the final phase of the game, we were on the front foot and really wanted the win. In the end, it was a very good performance by the team." 

‘We played against a team that had a lot of possession. But the fact is that we had very good chances to take the lead through Joschi and Derrick. It wasn't a game in which either team created many chances, and we defended very strongly."