Maza magic seals emphatic win for Bayer Leverkusen over Union Berlin
Making up for last week's disappointment in style, Bayer Leverkusen cruised past a toothless Union Berlin side 4-0 at the BayArena, with Ibrahim Maza putting in an instrumental performance.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Union BerlinGoals: 1-0 Fernández 1’ (assist: Gutiérrez), 2-0 Medina 28’ (assist: Gutiérrez), 3-0 Schick 48’ (assist: Quansah), 4-0 Maza 66’ (assist: Schick)
Leverkusen went into the game looking for a first win after an opening-day defeat at Elversberg, and made two changes to the starting XI, with Jarell Quansah and Facundo Medina coming in for Loïc Badé and Lucas Vázquez. Meanwhile, Union Berlin, who had drawn their opener with Eintracht Frankfurt, made three changes of their own, with Frederik Rønnow, Felix Uduokhai and Livan Burcu all handed starts by head coach Mauro Lustrinelli.
Fernández and Medina give Die Werkself early lead
Leverkusen could hardly have started better: inside the opening minute, Quansah found Malik Tillman, who crossed for Miguel Gutiérrez, and the full-back squared for Ezequiel Fernández to finish from close range for the opener. The home side continued to press, with Patrik Schick heading against the crossbar from a corner, before Gutiérrez's cross found Medina, who headed home for 2-0 in the 28th minute.
Union had barely threatened up to that point, and they managed only a single blocked effort from Josip Juranović before the half-time break, much to the frustration of the noisy away contingent.
Schick and Maza add to the tally
In a repeat of the first half, Leverkusen struck again almost immediately after the restart: Quansah drove into space and squared low for Schick, who tapped in for 3-0 inside three minutes of the second period.
In an attempt to drag themselves back into the match and regain control of the midfield, Union brought on Tim Skarke, Woo-yeong Jeong and Janik Haberer, but it was the hosts who increased their advantage via Maza, who received a ball from Schick, showed nifty footwork on the edge of the box, and finished into the top corner for his team's fourth. Rønnow, who did his best to keep the Berlin side in the game, produced several subsequent saves to keep the score down.
Man of the Match: Ibrahim Maza
Maza was a constant threat down the right, testing Rønnow early on and setting up several chances before capping the win with a fine finish from the edge of the box for Leverkusen's fourth goal. He also won more challenges than any other player on the pitch and duly received 49 percent of the vote for Man of the Match.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Bayer Leverkusen 2.9 - Union Berlin 0.15
Fastest player: Afonso Moreira (Bayer Leverkusen), 34.47 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 4-0 by Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen), 10 percent
Pass efficiency: Facundo Medina (Bayer Leverkusen), +3.93
Fantasy Heroes: Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen, 318 Points), Miguel Gutiérrez (Bayer Leverkusen, 300 Points), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen, 283 Points)
