Ending a longest-ever winless top-flight run was made a whole lot more difficult for Gladbach inside just three minutes, as Danilho Doekhi rewarded the home fans for a rousing pre-match display by rising high to head in Christopher Trimmel’s corner kick.
Derrick Kohn then sent a bouncing volley just wide of the mark as Union looked to double their lead, but the hosts didn’t have to wait too much longer for a second. The lively Ilyas Ansah stormed into the box and fired against the post from a tight angle, but Doekhi was once again in the right place to prod in on the rebound.
Union’s Dutch defender was feeling on top of the world after doubling his tally from last season in just 26 first-half minutes, but Gladbach soon got a foothold back in the game.
Yannik Engelhardt took out two defenders with a reverse pass to Haris Tabakovic, who had enough space to open up his body and curl his shot into the far corner.
Looking to ensure the half-time result was replicated at full-time for a seventh successive match involving them, Union looked more defensively minded at the start of the second half. Gladbach aimed to profit from that, but were unfortunate that Tabakovic’s effort was ruled out for offside, and they otherwise struggled to break down their opponents.
Perhaps Gladbach were too eager to salvage a late draw for the second successive away match, as they allowed Union’s Rani Khedira to run onto a headed clearance and bury his volley into the bottom corner, putting the result beyond doubt.
Steffen Baumgart’s side ascend all the way to seventh as a result, but will have to wait until the end of the weekend to learn whether they will remain in the top half.
Interim boss Eugen Polanski has so far failed to turn Gladbach’s fortunes around, and the only thing certain at the club is that whoever gets the permanent gig will take on a tough challenge to keep the five-time Bundesliga winners in the division.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Danilho Doekhi (Union Berlin)
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