Xabi Alonso made six changes to his team from Wednesday’s DFB Cup semi-final victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf. Captain Lukas Hradecky, Odilon Kossounou, Piero Hincapie, Nathan Tella, Adam Hlozek and Borja Iglesias all came in, while Matej Kovar, Josip Stanisic, Edmond Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli and Patrik Schick dropped to the bench.
The game was only two minutes old at the Stadion an der Alten Försterei when Iglesias had the first shot but without troubling goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. Wirtz then looked to be through after a pass from the Spaniard but was halted by Robin Gosens at the expense of a yellow card. Alejandro Grimaldo’s ensuing free-kick was palmed away from the corner by Rönnow.
Union’s goalkeeper again reacted well to an Iglesias header from a Tella cross as Bayer 04 dominated the opening stages and kept the hosts at arm’s length. Alonso’s forwards also worked hard in defence, such as when Hlozek tracked back into his own half to cut out a potential attack after 20 minutes. Grimaldo had a free effort following a Tella cross in behind the defence but narrowly missed the target on his weaker right foot. Adli had to come on for the injured Hlozek just after half an hour before Gosens’ header provided Union’s first chance of note. At the other end, Rönnow parried an effort from Robert Andrich.
A Leverkusen goal was coming and duly arrived on the stroke of half-time. Gosens was sent off for a second yellow in added time, just before a Kossounou shot after Hincapie struck the post found its way into the Union goal. However, Christopher Trimmel had handled the ball in the build-up, resulting in referee Benjamin Brand going to look at his monitor before pointing to the spot. Wirtz then stepped up seven minutes into stoppage time to put away his eighth goal of the campaign and give the visitors the lead.
Bayer 04 again controlled things after the restart, with Adli’s shot just before the hour forcing Rönnow into another stop. Victor Boniface came on for Iglesias after 67 minutes as 10-man Union showed their famous grit and determination. Tella had to go off with 11 minutes remaining to be replaced by Frimpong on the right. The Werkself kept things tight and Adli spurned a chance in the 94th minute to wrap things up with a second. It remained 1-0 and yet another victory for Leverkusen, sparking celebrations after the news of Bayern’s 3-2 defeat in Heidenheim. It means Bayer 04 can now be crowned champions next Sunday at home to Bremen by simply matching Bayern’s result on Saturday against Köln.
This potentially decisive week next sees Leverkusen in UEFA Europa League action with the quarter-final first leg at home to West Ham United on Thursday (9pm CEST). Matchday 29 in the Bundesliga then sees Werder come to the BayArena at 5.30pm.
Match stats
Union Berlin: Rönnow – Doekhi, Vogt, Leite – Trimmel (Juranovic 62'), Tousart, Khedira (Laidouni 62'), Schäfer (Kral 62'), Gosens – Vertessen (Kaufmann 46'), Aaronson (Hollerbach 78')
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah, Hincapie – Tella (Frimpong 79'), Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Wirtz, Hlozek (Adli 32') – Iglesias (Boniface 67')
Goal: 0-1 Wirtz (pen. 45'+7)
Referee: Benjamin Brand
Yellow cards: Gosens, Tousart – Adli, Andrich
Red card: Gosens (45'+2)
Attendance: 22,012 at the Stadion an der Alten Försterei (sold out)
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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