Hjulmand made five changes to the team that won at Olympiacos in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League play-off first leg. Loïc Badé replaced Jarell Quansah in the back three, while Arthur came in for Lucas Vázquez on the right. Ezequiel Fernández swapped in for compatriot Exequiel Palacios in midfield. Malik Tillman and Christian Kofane played up front in place of Ernest Poku and Patrik Schick.
Union had the first chance of the game inside two minutes when Derrick Köhn’s cross only just evaded Andrej Ilic in the box. The Berliners also had the better of the opening stages before Leverkusen found their way into the game but without creating anything of note. The best opportunity came for Tillman, who was unable to convert Arthur’s cross following a Badé long ball up the right. Just a minute later, the Irons forged ahead when Aljosha Kemlein’s ball up the pitch found Khedira, who got the better of Robert Andrich and was able to chip the ball over Janis Blaswich into the net.
Tillman had the first action of the second period when he drove into the box and went down, but not fouled according to the referee. With an hour gone, Hjulmand introduced Schick, Poku and Vázquez to try and make things happen. The changes seemed to have an effect as Leverkusen pressed for an equaliser and Union dropped deeper and deeper. The biggest chance came in the 92nd minute when Schick’s header went over the bar as the Werkself’s seven-game unbeaten run came to an end.
Bayer 04 are next in action again on Tuesday as they host Olympiacos for the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie (21:00 CET). Mainz are then the visitors to the BayArena the following Saturday in the Bundesliga (15:30).
Match stats:
Union Berlin: Rönnow - Doekhi, Querfeld, Nsoki - Haberer (Trimmel 11'), Khedira, Kemlein, Köhn - Jeong (Král 70'), Schäfer (Ansah 85') - Ilic (Skarke 85')
Bayer 04: Blaswich - Badé (Hofmann 68'), Andrich, Tapsoba - Arthur (Vázquez 61'), Fernández (Poku 61'), Garcia, Grimaldo - Tillman (Terrier 81'), Maza - Kofane (Schick 61')
Goals: 1-0 Khedira (28')
Yellow cards: Nsoki, Haberer, Ilic, Querfeld, Rønnow - Vázquez, Andrich
Referee: Harm Osmers
After eight years in the youth set-up at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Benjamin Adam is leaving the club. The 35-year-old, who most recently coached the Leverkusen U17s, will take charge of the Hansa Rostock U19 team next season.
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