When Livan Burcu scored in the 89^th minute to earn his 1. FC Union berlin side a 2-2 draw with FC Köln, three games before the end of last season, it felt seismic. He had capped a wonderful comeback, had secured Union’s first point under Marie-Louise Eta and, ultimately, had given them a huge helping hand towards league safety.

Today, he arguably topped it. As he reared away in delight having scored a wonderful winner against the league’s surprise outfit, an SV Elversberg that were proving as tough to break down as a concrete bunker, his team-mates poured after him. Following three losses in a row, the last of which that 7-0 reverse in Munich, there is no doubt that Union needed this.

Before kick-off few knew what to expect. As the Unioner’s voices sung out, their voices, their claps, held a little extra edge. A hint of top end, a bit of bite betraying either nerves, or maybe just a recognition of the importance of this game. They had never played Elversberg before, after all, so there was little to go on. There was little of that enmity, built up over years of wins and losses, sleights and conspiracies, but also none of that built-up knowledge that only comes from the routine of regular competition, of bitterness and rancour.

If Burcu had been here before – and his beaming grin later betrayed just that, he is the coolest of customers - for Kastriot Imeri, all of this was new. Making his debut in the starting XI, Lustrinelli’s pick from his former Thun side smiled as he walked the pitch earlier on. He tried to take it in. But little could prepare him for the Alte Försterei. He was felled by Luca Sirxh with practically his first touch, out on the left, dropped over the touchline. Welcome to the Bundesliga. The crowd jeered his opponent remorselessly.

It was a dashing game, fast to the point of break-neck, chaotic at times, and never dull. Union raced out of the traps; a Wooyeong Jeong flick of the heel; a Tim Skarke burst up the right winning a corner before a minute had been played; Tom Rothe bundled over in the box as the set-piece came in. Felix Uduokhai flashed an early header just over, flicking the ball from the penalty spot. Rothe caught Lukas Petkov with a flick to the face that saw the Elversberg midfielder go own like he’d been shot.

Lustrinelli had clearly been working over the extended, interminable international break. They were so improved, defensively, it was like the side that had conceded those 17 goals up to now had been banished. He said that they had ‘matured’, in his press conference after the final whistle. “We were a little better in every single department,” he continued. They had tricks up their sleeves, too. Imeri, Andras Schäfer and Michel Aebischer contrived a clever free kick routine, a triangle of passes, played short and sharp, that almost set the former away into the box.

Skarke drew the first save from Nicolas Kristof after nine minutes, the culmination of a fast move where Schäfer set Rothe away up the right. Imeri was causing problems already, and Kristof had to race out of his box to beat Skarke to his chipped pass over the Elversberg back-line. Luca Sirch then outpaced him as Skarke repaid the favour a moment later.

The game was quick as lightning, both trying to show their fearless sides, always looking to spring the next trap, and Zeno Van Den Bosch did well to get back in time ahead of the flying Noah Darvich, then causing a few hearts to flutter as he tangled with Noel Futkeu in the box, sending the Elversberg striker flying from behind.

Jeong hit one from range, out of nowhere, but Kristof got down and palmed it away; Imeri’s effort from a similar position looked like he was trying to catch the keeper off his line, but it drifted harmlessly wide. Skarke was then booked, getting a schoolmasterly dressing down from referee, Tobias Reichel for his troubles after both Imeri and he had been tripped in succession with no similar response. Neither were impressed, nor were the crowd, predictably enough. Their mood hardly improved when Jeong was floored by what looked like an elbow, thrown as he rose to try and get on the end of the next looping high ball to come his way.

Union were coming closer, and Schäfer was the next to bring a superb stop out of Kristof, this time as his free kick headed for the top left corner. He did just as well, going the other way, from Uduokhai’s firm header, hit back across goal from Imeri’s 28^th minute corner.

The pace lulled a little as the half went on, but there were still chances at either end, gaps appearing like crevasses in a glacier. Skarke was muscled off the ball by Pinckert having brought Rönnow’s skyward pass with the surest and of touches.

But for all their intent, all their earlier impressive attacking movement, Union were lucky not to concede at times, particularly as the first half went on. First, Elversberg hit the bar as Rönnow backpedalled to trey and tip over a speculative, lobbed header. Rani Khedira then slid into Lasse Günther’s cross, clearing the danger. But the greatest let-off came as Futkeu rounded the Union keeper, doing all the hard work, but somehow hitting his shot over the bar when all he had to do was roll it in. He held his head in his hands as he lay on the floor, the chance gone begging. He couldn’t believe it; nor could his teammates

Rönnow saved again after that, falling backwards, a single fist raised, the wrist unwavering as Darvich’s hard shot was parried away to safety. The break came at just the right time for Union.

The second half began with Schäfer making a terrific tackle on Darvich, out on Union’s left wing. Fresh from wearing the Hungarian captain’s armband for the first time, he timed his slide immaculately. Schäfer had been one of Union’s liveliest players before the break, and it seemed as if he would remain so after it. His shot, only a minute later, flew over the top corner after he had been allowed too much time to have a go from outside of the box.

Skarke was often the lone presence up top for Union, and he was picked out twice by Uduokhai, and once by Khedira, sky-high balls, launched his way as he drifted to the flanks

Union attacked again, this time getting the weight of numbers into the Elversberg box. Yet somehow the guests held on. Jeong’s shot was cleared off the line, then Kristof somehow stuck a boot out to deflect Aebischer’s follow-up away. The crowd were certain that Jeong’s next go had crashed into an outstretched hand, but again the referee waved it all away, uninterested in their plight.

Lustrinelli swapped out Kastriot for Livan Burcu on 58 minutes, prompting the next surge in Union pressure. He would ultimately change the game. Schäfer tried to trick his way inside but couldn’t find space. Haberer won a corner, that found Rothe’s diagonal shot roll wide of the back post. Aebischer and Skarke combined on the break, but the ball seemed to be moving just a little slower than their minds and legs were as they entered the box anew.

Burcu flicked the ball around Sirch artfully, using spin to kill the movement of the the ball like a snooker player as he darted round the other side. His control of Aebischer’s swinging Crossfield pass was immaculate, but he played his pass just too far ahead of the on-marching Rothe to be able to set him away. He then darted onto Pinckert’s mis-control, but the defender quickly made amends, winning the ball back again and trying to spring an attack of his own.

Meanwhile van Den Bosch and Uduokhai were quietly going about their business, even as Elversberg swapped out their front line, and even when Maurice Krattenmacher manged to get to the byline ahead of Uduokhai, Rönnow was down in time to smother his low cross. As David Mokwa looked to turn, it was Khedira next who put in the vital tackle.

With 15 minutes remaining, Jeong, Aebischer and Skarke were taken off, replaced by Oliver Burke, making his first start of the season, Christopher Trimmel and, to great cheer, the debutant from Union’s own youth ranks, Mekhi Gray. A towering centre forward, Gray was straight into the thick of things as Trimmel launched a throw-in his way, then winning a header in the box, flicking it goalwards only to see it cleared off the line.

Union were giving it their all as the clock ticked away, the stadium growing louder as the next corner came in from the right. This time it was hit deeper by Trimmel and was scruffily cleared only towards the back of the box where Burcu loitered, waiting just for this. He is a player of some style, technically brilliant, he caught it beautifully, perfectly, putting it through the crowd and, finally, past Kristof.

He had taken his moment again and headed straight to the bench to celebrate with his coaches. The crowd exploded. 

Union were flying, and leading the line, Gray was brilliant; he flicked on for Burcu before both he and Burke had shots cleared off the line that seemed destined to go in, the second saved by Kristof, implausibly, impossibly. He slid into Maximilian Rohr, refusing to let him settle on the ball back on his own goal line.

Elversberg, to their credit, didn’t wilt, and Rönnow would make a couple more vital stops, the second, springing to his left to tip Lukasz Porba’s bicycle kick around the post, couldn’t have been timed better were he sweeping up the Rolex factory.

The final whistle came as Rönnow launched a final free kick up towards the Elversberg box, leaving the stands erupting, and the players punching the air. Burcu and Gray came together quickly, ambling to where their teammates were already beginning their lap of honour. They strolled along in their wake, chatting like this was just another day; the debutant and the hero.

“We have worked hard in the last two weeks and today’s victory was very important for everyone in the team and for the club. With my first game in the Bundesliga, a dream has come true for me. It’s even more beautiful that we managed to get the three points as well.”

“It is a very nice feeling to take home three points and score the winning goal. Horst Heldt told me that I would score today. He motivates me every day and gives me confidence.”

“We improved in many areas during the break: in ball possession, in our game without the ball, and in intensity. We showed a consistent performance for over 90 minutes today. We allowed very little and up front we always tried to score. It’s a good step in the right direction and we’ll carry this momentum forward now.”