At the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, SG Dynamo Dresden had their final rehearsal before the start of the new second division season, while 1. FC Union Berlin commenced the concluding intensive phase of their summer preparation. Accordingly, a fast-paced match developed right from the start, in which the guests from Köpenick initially set the tone. With aggressive counter-pressing and numerous ball recoveries, the Eisernen put the home side under pressure early on. The first notable attempt on goal rightly belonged to Union: Following a precise cross from Tom Rothe, Ilyas Ansah headed the ball towards the Dresden goal but narrowly missed with his effort (8.).

After a little more than a quarter of an hour, the Berliners increasingly pressed for the lead. Marin Ljubičić skillfully controlled a pass from Wooyeong Jeong and had a promising opportunity to score, but SGD goalkeeper Tim Schreiber reacted alertly and initially prevented the deficit (18.). Just one minute later, however, the Dresden keeper was powerless: Once again, Rothe took center stage, won an aerial duel in the penalty area, and headed the ball into the net for a deserved 1-0 lead for Union (19.). The home side's response did not take long. Only three minutes after Union's lead, Niklas Hauptmann finished a low cross to equalize at 1-1 after the first and only attack from the Saxons (22.).

After 33 minutes, Schreiber failed to decisively punch a corner kick out of the danger zone, allowing Jeong to take a shot at the edge of the penalty area. However, the South Korean's attempt posed no insurmountable task for the Dresden keeper. Just before halftime, Union once again created danger from a set piece. After a corner, Rothe headed the ball to the near post to Zeno Van den Bosch, who directly brought the ball back in front of the goal. There, Rothe had another shot but only hit the side netting (39.). No further goals were scored before the halftime whistle, so both teams went into the break with a 1-1 draw.

After the change of sides, Dresden initially took the initiative and appeared significantly more offensive. The intense phase was rewarded with a set piece: A precise cross sailed to the second post, where the 1.96 meter tall Vincent Vermeij played to his physical presence and headed the ball into the net to give the home team the lead (52.). Even after taking the lead, the hosts remained the more active team and continually sought to shoot from distance. The substitute Jakob Lemmer missed the Union goal in the 64th minute, just like Ben Bobzien three minutes later, whose attempt also went wide of the target (67.).

In the closing stages, Union's head coach Mauro Lustrinelli took the opportunity for further personnel tests and substituted all ten outfield players. The newly formed team kept the match open in the remaining approximately 20 minutes, but no further goals were scored.

“I think, especially in the first half, there was a lot of good from us. From my perspective, we deservedly took the lead, but then we conceded the equalizer somewhat out of nowhere. We were able to execute our pressing well and disrupted the flow of the game for the players from Dresden repeatedly. In the second half, we were a bit lacking in energy. But that’s exactly what preparation is for. Already tomorrow we can get back to it and continue working on ourselves,” said Rani Khedira’s conclusion after the final whistle.

“I think today we saw what kind of football we want to play and what we still need to work on as a team. Especially when we put our opponents under pressure early, press high, and thereby get into good areas. We need to be more consistent in taking advantage of these situations in the future and score more goals from open play, even though we have already succeeded in doing that once today. Of course, it will be difficult when you’re not at 100 percent during preparation. Basically, I am satisfied with the team's performance,” added goalscorer Tom Rothe at the microphone.

“We trained very well throughout the week. In the first half, we saw and implemented a lot of what we work hard on every day. We had numerous good actions and repeatedly found ourselves in dangerous situations. Currently, we still lack a few more goals, but I am convinced that they will come. We will continue to work intensively on this and refine it every day,” said head coach Mauro Lustrinelli in his analysis after the clash.