1
New Union Berlin striker Ilyas Ansah managed to set a club record yesterday. No FCU player has ever scored twice in his Union starting XI debut. Ansah’s brace helped carry Union to an upset win over VfB Stuttgart in their Bundesliga opener.The 20-year-old was understandably all smiles after his successful debut.
Signed this summer to help bolster the Union attack, Ansah was among the Union attackers who struggled mightily through a worrisome FCU training camp. Hopes that Steffen Baumgart’s Eisernen would find ways to score goals remained low as competitive play got started.
Union were able to put five past FC Gütersloh in their opening Pokal fixture, but all three of the five goals not scored towards the end of proceedings came off of set-pieces. Ansah – replacing Scottish striker Oliver Burke – was the only change Baumgart made to the XI heading into the Stuttgart match.
Ansah’s two spectacular distance efforts enabled Union to prove themselves dangerous from open play. The capital city side unquestionably would not be celebrating a victory were it not for Ansah’s moments of magic. Stuttgart dominated in every other statistical category.
“All of the stats were against us except the most important one,” Baumgart noted at the post-match press conference. “We achieved this as a collective. We secured a victory that not many teams would get.“
Ansah found himself answering questions about who would receive the mementos from his spectacular Bundesliga debut in the mixed zone. The 20-year-old revealed that he’d be giving a jersey to his father and keeping one himself. Like fellow German youngster Can Uzun of Eintracht Frankfurt, however, Ansah was mostly just looking forward to a successful season after setting his club record.
“It’s just great to be on the pitch with the whole team,” Ansah said. “[Striking partner Andrej Ilic] is a great player who’s fun to play alongside. It’s been awesome with Union thus far. These are the moments one dreams about and now they’re coming true. One has to collect oneself first.”
GGFN | Peter Weis
