Compared to the 1-1 draw at current second-placed Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, head coach Peter Bosz made two changes to his team for the latest match in the fourth of five straight weeks with multiple games: Daley Sinkgraven started on the left wing for Wendell, with Charles Aránguiz in midfield for new winter signing Exequiel Palacios. Kai Havertz sported the captain's armband again as Lars Bender is still out injured. The defender suffered a fascial tear in his sartorius muscle and hopes to be back for the Europa League game against Glasgow Rangers.
The Werkself, starting as in previous games with three at the back, had to contend with a first - albeit harmless - attempt by Union striker Anthony Ujah on three minutes. Keeper Lukas Hradecky was on hand, however. The hosts got their first scoring chance with a direct free-kick from Kerem Demirbay, but Union goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz punched his effort clear (10'). The most dangerous chance came from Marius Bülter with a header. But Hradecky was again equal to the task with a strong reflex save (11'). The Werkself could not turn their more than 70% possession into an advantage in the initial phase.
As a result, scoring chances on both sides were scarce. Ujah's pass to Robert Andrich was too long (25'), at the other end Leon Bailey couldn't find a teammate with his cross (29'). But then, out of the blue, the visitors took the lead: Bülter ran down the right and fired a cross high into the penalty area, where striker Marcus Ingvartsen was on hand to nod in to give Union a 1-0 lead (39'). And that was the score as the two teams headed into the dressing rooms.
Bayer 04 head coach Bosz made two changes for the restart: Mitchell Weiser moved to the right of the defence and the injured Nadiem Amiri stayed behind in the dressing room, as did centre-half Jonathan Tah, who was replaced by striker Moussa Diaby. The latter promptly created a first scoring opportunity: the Frenchman headed for the opponents' box, but couldn't get the ball on target, instead shooting a metre too far to the right (47').
In the second half, the Werkself showed more imagination and flexibility in attack - but without significant opportunities to equalise. After a good hour, the momentum with which the Werkself had started the second half evaporated. A second yellow for Union's Christopher Lenz, who had brought down Aránguiz (71'), and the 1-1 equaliser from Karim Bellarabi, who had been replaced by Havertz on the right wing (72'), gave the hosts a new lease of life.
Shortly afterwards the scorer made a move from the right to the centre, but his shot was deflected (78'). Then came a big double chance for the Werkself: first Gikiewicz parried a shot from Sven Bender, who had pushed forward, then Weiser missed the rebound by a hair's breadth (79'). Five minutes later, the Bayer 04 fans were ready to celebrate again; Diaby's shot, however, was deflected and ended up in the side-netting (85').
But the next corner brought the longed-for success: Demirbay started from the left, found a taker in holding midfielder Aránguiz, who had pushed up - and the 1.71-metre tall Chilean netted with a header to make it 2-1 (86')! In the 90th minute Havertz narrowly missed wrapping things up when he lobbed the ball just over the bar. But Diaby did just that after finishing off an exceptional counter-attack in injury time (90'+1') - and securing entry into the DFB Cup semi-finals!
For the Werkself, there's no respite as the next Bundesliga match is on Saturday afternoon - again at home in the BayArena. At 15:30 CET, they'll kick-off against Eintracht Frankfurt, who are currently twelfth in the German top tier and who sat out last weekend due to their match against Werder Bremen being postponed. By the way: Eintracht and SVW are also facing each other this evening in the DFB Cup quarter-finals (kick-off was at 20:45 CET).
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Tah (Diaby 46'), S. Bender, Tapsoba – Amiri (Weiser 46'), Aránguiz, Demirbay, Sinkgraven – Havertz, Alario, Bailey (Bellarabi )
Union Berlin: Gikiewicz – Friedrich, K. Schlotterbeck, Parensen – Ryerson, Andrich, Prömel (Kroos 82'), Lenz – Bülter (Trimmel 73'), Ujah (Andersson 70'), Ingvartsen
Goals: 0-1 Ingvartsen (39'), 1-1 Bellarabi (72'), 2-1 Aránguiz (86'), 3-1 Diaby (90+1')
Referee: Benjamin Cortus (Röthenbach an der Pegnitz)
Booked: Tah, Aránguiz, Diaby – Parensen, Lenz
Sent off: Lenz (71')
Attendance: 18,453
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