Bayer Leverkusen beat Union Berlin 4-0 in the second round of the Bundesliga at the Bay Arena on Saturday. Fernández Carballo opened the scoring on the first minute, and the visitors never really recovered from that.
By then the game was already settled in terms of momentum. Medina added a second goal in the twenty-eighth minute, and that was the moment you could see the visitors' heads dropping. To be fair, Union had their chances in the opening exchanges, but they couldn't finish.
And here's the thing — you watch a match like this and you remember the twenty-minute mark. Not because it was dramatic, but because that's when the pattern was set. Schick made it three in the forty-eighth minute, and Maza completed the scoring at sixty-six. Four goals, clean sheet, nothing to complain about.
The statistics tell the rest of the story. Leverkusen held 64 per cent possession and registered ten shots on target against Union's zero. They created five big chances while the visitors managed none. By then it was clear who was playing football and who was trying to survive.
Union's goalkeeper made six saves, which says something about the volume of pressure. Leverkusen completed 521 passes compared to 260 for the visitors, and their expected goals figure of 3.11 matched the final scoreline almost exactly. It wasn't a fluke.
After two matches Leverkusen sit fifth with three points, while Union are fifteenth with one. The hosts had lost to Elversberg last time out, so this was a response they needed. Union cannot afford another slip if they want to avoid trouble.