Benes turned around and scored a wonderful unassisted goal from 17 meters with his supposedly weaker foot as he equalized against Mainz in the closing stages on Saturday.
Slovakian international Laszlo Benes had not had any contact with top-flight German football since his time at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 2021/22 season. The 26-year-old scored his last Bundesliga goal on matchday 24 of the 2020/21 season while on loan to Augsburg. After failing to gain promotion with Hamburger SV for two seasons, one of Union Berlin’s more interesting summer signings chose an excellent time to signal his return to the Bundesliga.
After the relegation battle last season, 1. FC Union Berlin got off to a rather slow start under new coach Bo Svensson. In the cup, the Köpenick “Iron Ones” only narrowly beat fourth division side Greifswalder FC 1-0. An uninspired 3-3-2-2 from Svensson against his former club Mainz on Saturday afternoon resulted in jerky, sloppy and really ugly football in the MEWA Arena. Only when Svensson brought in substitutes and switched to a 3-4-3 did the situation improve.
At first it seemed as if Svensson’s move came too late. Mainz’s resurgent international Nadiem Amiri had already put Svensson’s former club in the lead with a free kick. As the final quarter of an hour approached, Union was still 1-0 down. Benes – only on the pitch for a minute – used this moment to strike and shot with his supposedly weaker foot from 17 meters without any help to make it 1-1. Benes’ midfield partner Rani Khedira praised his teammate for saving the point.
“It was like a refreshing change from the bench,” Khedira said into Sky’s microphones afterwards. “I knew his left foot was world class, but I didn’t know his right foot was so good!”
“When I come, I want to help the team,” Benes himself remarked briefly, “I’m happy that it worked out.”
