1. FC Union Berlin: Wisbereit – Bohn (72. minute Wilp), Kühling, Prosche, Barry - Sliskovic, Blaszczak (58. Sakoufakis), Megaptche (90. Matjani), Ali (58. Adesiyan), Güther (82. Pepinski) - Bogdanov 

Hertha BSC: Seibert – Slusar (64. Krumhaar), Gashi, Hagenah (64. Aydogan), Adelenu – Bagci, Krizic (77. Zornic), Karbuzoglu (58. Wehbe), Ünal (70. Iyi), Todorovic - Zornic (64. Numic) 

Attendance: 5067 

Goals: 1-0 Güther (4. minute), 2-0 Ali (33.), 3-0 Megaptche (43.), 3-1 Ünal (56.), 4-1 Sakoufakis (67.), 4-2 (89. Bagci) 

Union take an early lead

Warm spring temperatures and a big crowd greeted the most senior youth teams at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Wednesday evening, and they were in for a treat as Union got off to the perfect start. Only three minutes had been played when Dmytro Bogdanov broke down the right wing and squared. There he found Linus Güther, fresh from his Bundesliga debut at the weekend, aged 16 years and three days, who slotted home coolly for an early lead. 

Union remained the dominant team winning tackles in midfield, and constantly threatening the guest's penalty area. Yann Megaptche drew a good save from the Hertha goalkeeper, before firing over later in the half, following the dominant Güther's corner. As the game progressed, the Westend side began to find their way into the game but failed to get any shots on goal.  

Union remained compact, organised and dogged at the back allowing hardly any opportunities for the guests, and the next great chance came as Suheib-Elias Ali burst down the right-hand side, left a defender standing, and shot. His attempt was cleared off the line by a Hertha defender at the last moment. 

A well-deserved second did not take long to come, and it was a beauty. After another typically dashing run by Ali up the left wing, he played the ball into the middle to Güther, who dropped a should before laying off the one-two, back to Ali. He volleyed home for 2-0. 

Union continued to pressure Hertha and rewarded themselves shortly before halftime with a third. Bogdanov played a precise pass into space to Güther, who circled the goalkeeper and selflessly laid it across to Megaptche. He only had to roll it over the line to make it 3-0 at halftime.  

Efficient Union wrap things up 

EThe start of the second half saw Union trying to attack, but the frequent offside flags hampered them. Hertha came out improved, meanwhile, attacking towards their decent contingent of fans in the away end.

And in the 55th minute, they finally managed to score with a header, after a cross from the left. Union responded, as Sakoufakis nudged the ball forwards from the midfield for the tireless Bogdanov, who saw his shot saved.

The long-overdue fourth came shortly after. Following a long ball from the outstanding Ole Kühling , Güther fought off three defenders and laid it off for the running Sakoufakis. He remained calm and converted confidently into the far corner for 4-1. 

The hosts remained the dominant team, though just before the final whistle, Hertha managed to score again. layed over the right side, a Hertha player scored from a tight angle into the near corner to reduce the score to 4-2. 

A late red card card for the guests changed little. Union were through to the cup final.

The reaction to the game 

“Today was a highlight for the boys, they were really looking forward to it. And then they really deserved this victory in the game. Defensively, we had to suffer a bit, but in attack, we had many chances and could certainly have rewarded ourselves even more often. Overall, it was simply a really great game,” said Daniel Schulz, coach of the U-19s