Burke buzzing over Union strikeforce

After Ansah opened the scoring with his fourth league goal of the season, Burke then took centre stage. The Scotland international forward struck a hat-trick - with all three goals teed up by Ilić - to give his club a gripping 4-3 win and their second victory of the season.

Watch: Union Berlin's front three fire in Frankfurt

"I think we felt a really good connection even in training and we had some really good moments," said Burke. "We all have our qualities and strength and speed and it’s very dangerous. If we put it together and we do it well together, it can be very special.

"We showed that in the last few games and it’s exciting, and I’m really looking forward to continuing this. We have to keep going and pushing each other and getting more and more out of each other every day.

"It’s a nice feeling because we really feel it between us that the connection is there and that it’s paying off. It’s a very nice feeling as a player and as an attacker."

Their connection is all the more surprising given that, of the three, only Ilić was at the club before summer 2025. The Serbian forward made his loan move from French club Lille permanent as Ansah arrived in the German capital from Paderborn and Burke came in from Werder Bremen.

The trio have clicked immediately. Before his hat-trick of assists against Frankfurt, Ilić set up the decisive second goal in the Matchday 1 win over Stuttgart for Ansah, who now has four goals in the top flight after finding the net six times in 33 second-tier games last term.

Burke has now scored more than half of the five goals he tallied in 25 appearances with Bremen in the 2024/25 campaign, and said the trio's chemistry had come naturally.

"We talk with one another before the games or at half-time about how we can damage a team. But in football, you don’t even need to speak that much because you know what one another is capable of," explained the former Nottingham Forest attacker.

"In some situations, you don’t even need to look because I'm already making a run or Andrej is there. Ilić is also quick and powerful, so sometimes you just have that connection and you can’t really describe it. We felt in that game and in the previous games that we had something. It really sparked in the last game, and we feel it now."

Watch: Oliver Burke seals Union Berlin transfer

Union coach Steffen Baumgart will hope the Matchday 4 performance reflects what is to come after a mixed start to the new campaign with as many defeats as wins.

Burke describes the former Cologne and Hamburg boss as "passionate" and says his performances are "massively down to the manager".

But the striker, who scored one goal in 25 Bundesliga appearances in the 2016/17 season with RB Leipzig during his first spell in Germany, is also a self-motivator.

"I just want to try to improve every day on the training pitch," Burke said. 

"I do believe we have a great team and good people at this club. We have to believe, and I think we do. I think we are going to have a nice, special year."