Union Berlin has lost the lead in the Bundesliga after almost two months with a juicy smack.
On Sunday afternoon, coach Urs Fischer's team lost 5-0 (0-0) at Bayer Leverkusen and had to concede first place to Bayern Munich. The series champion had presented on Saturday with a 3: 2 at Hertha BSC.
Former Unioner Robert Andrich (46th minute), Moussa Diaby (56th/58th), Adam Hlozek (68th) and Mitchel Bakker (76th) scored the goals in front of 30,210 spectators and gave Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso the eighth competitive game second league win. Due to the second defeat of the Berliners in the past few weeks, in which they also celebrated seven competitive wins, they have to free up first place in the table for the first time since the sixth matchday.
Union and Leverkusen had already secured progression in the European Cup during the week, so both coaches made four personnel changes in their starting XI due to the double burden in the European Cup and the upcoming English week in the Bundesliga.
Ex-Leverkusener Grill messes up in the Union goal
Bayer coach Alonso had to do without striker Patrik Schick (adductor problems) for a short time, but he has been lagging behind his form from the previous season (24 goals) for weeks. Visiting coach Fischer also had to change due to injury, Lennart Grill stood between the posts for the injured goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow (muscular problems). And the grill, which was only borrowed from Leverkusen in the summer, initially spent a more relaxed Sunday afternoon - before it made a decisive mistake.
In the first half, Leverkusen had more of a share of the game, but initially there was a lack of ideas and the ability to implement them on offense. The Berlin back line, the best defense in the league before kick-off with only nine goals conceded, was challenged but not faced with any serious problems for a long time. The Union acted cautiously and waited for the right moment to switch.
But while neither team had a real chance to score in the first half, the second half started with a bang: The first corner of the game by Kerem Demirbay used ex-Unioner Andrich to put Bayer ahead. Just ten minutes later, Diaby made it 2-0 thanks to the help of the Unioner.
After a corner was saved by the guests, the goalkeeper Grill, who had moved up a long way, wanted to quickly play the ball forward again, but put it too far in front. Jeremie Fripong took advantage of this mistake and served Diaby, who finally scored to make it 2-0 and two minutes later even completed another counterattack to make it 3-0.
But Leverkusen, suddenly in a mood to play and repeatedly counterattacking, wanted more goals: Schick substitute Hlozek made the smashing victory perfect with a back-heel and Bakker in the final phase.
