As Derrick Köhn reared away to dance by the corner flag, a hint of Roger Milla transported to an early-Spring Berlin, with the roaring of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in his ears after his superbly struck penalty, everything seemed to be working out for 1. FC Union Berlin. But such is football, an occasionally pitiless game of vicissitudes and fluctuating emotions and fortunes, his joy was short-lived. Within a minute, Andras Schäfer was shown a harsh red card. Within 13 more Bremen had equalised. Five minutes after that, they were in the lead and, despite Union’s best efforts, never looked back. 

It seems easy to say, but Schäfer’s dismissal really did change things, for at the time few would have predicted the scoreline that would come. It would be a long seventy minutes that followed.

It had all started at a furious pace, with Andrej Ilić holding up and playing Ilyas Ansah in, the sudden flash of panic palpable as Bremen keeper, Mio Backhaus, took a routine backpass, but dawdled, just for a millisecond, as Leopold Querfeld suddenly bore down on him. The danger averted, Stanley Nsoki was called upon to clear with his head at the other end, out for a corner, better safe than sorry. It came to little.

Bremen were however better than their position in the table would indicate, and perhaps Aljoscha Kemlein underestimated their threat when passing across the line of his own box, finding only Romano Schmid. Fortunately, Danilho Doekhi was immediately in position, guiding him away from Frederik Rönnow’s goal, as professionally and quietly as ever.

It was fun, electric stuff.  Six minutes in, Leopold Querfeld had glory flashing in his eyes, as the ball bounced up and around the Bremen box, courtesy of an Andras Schäfer nod and a Rani Khedira toe-end. The Austrian centre-half, up for a long throw initially, shaped and threw himself at the bicycle kick. His contact, sadly, didn’t match his poise, and he could only somewhat scuff the ball as it dropped at head height.

Khedira had the first shot, for either side, on target after ten minutes, but his effort was too high to get hold of and was grabbed easily by the waiting Backhaus.

Bremen were quick on the counter, though they seemed unsure as to what to do when they found themselves attacking at first. Marco Grüll, the wind in his sails, threw himself down as Derrick Köhn went near him, then somewhat fairer, Querfeld towered into a header, flooring Senne Lynen.

Union had the lead after 18 minutes. Ilyas Ansah charged into the area, caught by Stark as he went. There was no question of the infringement as they entered the box together, and referee, Timo Gerach, pointed straight to the spot. Naturally, as is the modern way, he had to wait for a confirmation before Köhn stepped up to take it. Köhn staggered, he skipped, and just as it looked like he would try to dink his spot-kick, he smashed it to Backhaus’s left.

It was his first goal for Union. He hadn’t batted an eyelid.

But within two minutes it all changed, for Union, as for the game, itself. Schäfer caught Stage, late but without malice or violence, halfway inside the Bremen half. If he had been quick to award the penalty, Gerach wasted less time here, the red card coming out of his pocket in a flash. After all the jubilation that still had barely subsided, Union were a man down.

Stage almost twisted the knife in the next move, side-footing a low shot, bending towards the back post, that Rönnow had to be sharp to get his fingers to, clawing it away as the ball almost wriggled past his clutches. Yukinari Sugawara shot over from the resulting corner, with time to pick his spot and Union still stunned.

Undaunted, they put together a beautiful move on 25 minutes, starting with Ansah’s run, Khedira’s pass and Köhn’s cross from the left. Ilić was inches away from heading home.

The momentum of the game now reversed, Union sat deeper, with Querfeld hoicking a clearance from the edge of the six-yard-box at one pole, and Ilić just outside the centre-circle, waiting for anything that came his way, at the other.

They couldn’t prevent Olivier Deman’s equaliser, however, on the stroke of half an hour. Receiving the ball on his left, he found the only space available for miles around and whipped the ball with little back-lift into the top left corner. The diving Rönnow had no chance, it was a superb finish.

Five minutes later it was two, as Stage planted a bullet of a header direct from a corner past Rönnow.

The game grew tetchy as Union ploughed on in search of an equaliser. Stark dragged Ilić down on the edge of the box and got nothing, Topp did the same to Querfeld and conceded a free kick. Köhn took it, opting to shoot, and though he beat the wall, with everyone expecting him to whip it across goal to the back post, he aimed for the near one instead, seeing it fly just over.

Union were fearless, stepping up to a man, and Querfeld flicked his header back, his back to goal, over the bar. Whistles deafened throughout the stadium as Ansah was dragged down, again, yet only a throw-in was signalled. Khedira couldn’t believe his eyes. But they had to be careful, Bremen broke, and Cameron Puertas flashed wide. Then, with five minutes added-on almost up, Stage was a better touch away from having the ball alone in front of Rönnow.

With Steffen Baumgart a livewire on the touchline, applauding every challenge, every tackle, every ball up to the lonely Ilić, Union won a final free kick, ten yards outside of the box. Again, Köhn took it, but again the ball flew over. The whistle came immediately.

With his side unchanged, Baumgart sent his team out first, even if the re-start had to be itself re-started due to a Bremen player encroaching into the Union half before the ball had been kicked. But they were quicker out of the blocks on the pitch, too, and Stage hit the post with barely four minutes up, as Bremen cut Union to shreds on the break. Substitute, Leo Bittencourt drove wide a minute later.

The crowd - already incandescent - were driven to the point of boiling as Grüll stayed down after a Köhn challenge, play going on around him. Eventually Querfeld put the ball out, only for Grüll to get up straight away.

Bremen kept up their pressure, and Rönnow was smartly out off his line when Deman was charging onto a pass played between them. He did even better with Grüll looming and Nsoki shadowing the dropping ball on the hour. Kemlein showed similar poise, turning away from one man all over him, setting Haberer away down the right. It was Kemlein’s last touch, as Wooyeong Jeong replaced him with 62 minutes gone.

But the guests’ dominance over the ball soon told, their man extra showing the longer the game went on, and they went 3-1 up after 65 minutes through Grüll.

Baumgart would swap Ansah out for Skarke soon afterwards, with time in between just for Querfeld to see yellow for a foul on Schmid. It was his fifth of the season, and he’ll miss Freiburg next weekend. There were still glimmers for Union – Ilić’s knockdown for Jeong and Köhn’s next free kick into the box for Querfeld cases in point – but as the game entered its final 15 minutes they were hanging on somewhat, their legs tiring, the gaps opening up around them when Bremen had the ball growing ever larger.

Baumgart threw his final roll of the dice as Christopher Trimmel and Oliver Burke replaced Haberer and Nsoki with ten minutes to play. Trimmel was straight into the fray, launching a throw-in direct into the box, then beating Puentas to the ball on the halfway line.

Yet, every time Union tried to get going, the move would break down against determined, dogged opponents. First Khedira’s then Skarke’s shots were blocked as they strived to get something going in the direction of Backhaus’s goal. Ilić headed to Burke, but the return header fell behind the toiling striker. Köhn found Trimmel who found Jeong, but he was muscled off the ball before he could get going in the right direction.

The final nail in the coffin came with seconds of the four minutes added-on remaining. Stage played in Bittencourt who laid it off for Patrice Covic. His finish was as calm as it was heartbreaking for the Unioner.

As all thoughts went back to the dismissal, the seventy minutes that followed and the knowledge of what could have been, it was the toughest of ways to end the day.