Matchday 5: Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 - 0 1. FC Union Berlin

GDI Polti. 

Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky; L. Bender (Weiser), S. Bender, Dragovic, Wendell; Baumgartlinger (Demirbay); Amiri (Paulinho), Aranguiz, Volland, Havertz; Alario

1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Friedrich, Schlotterbeck, Lenz (Reichel); Gentner, Andrich; Bülter, Ingvartsen (Polter), Becker (Gogia); Andersson

Goals:
Leverkusen: Volland (20), Alario (25)

Union Berlin have not won away from Berlin in league play since they defeated Holstein Kiel 1-0 back in March. Indeed, the team managed promotion while only winning three league games total, and two of those three teams ended up relegated from the 2. Bundesliga by the end of the season. (Though we mustn’t forget that they managed to take Borussia Dortmund all the way to extra time in their cup tie at the Westfalenstadion before eventually losing 3-2 -- clearly there is something about playing Borussia Dortmund that works for Union!) 

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that to expect Union Berlin to pick up points away to Bayer Leverkusen -- a team that many pundits have pegged for the top four at the end of the season -- was probably a big ask. Away games to Champions League-caliber opposition are not must-win matches when it comes to avoiding relegation. And after losing 4-0 to Dortmund in the Bundesliga and 2-1 to Lokomotiv Moscow in the UEFA Champions League, Leverkusen were always going to come out swinging in the hope of regaining their form against perceived inferior opposition. Still, there is something about the way Union dropped this game that leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. 

Peter Bosz teams play generally unattractive defensive football, but the goalscorers that Bosz’s Leverkusen squad rely on are efficient and consistent enough to ensure that it’s easy enough for them to sit back after securing an early lead and run away with three points. And indeed, that is exactly what Leverkusen did after Kevin Volland -- one of the most reliable strikers in the league -- scored in the 20th minute. This was only Leverkusen’s first goal of the match but the second time the ball hit the back of the net behind Rafal Gikiewicz; the first goal was ruled offside by VAR. 

Shortly afterward, in the 25th minute, Lucas Alario scored a beautiful rocket of a goal -- Gikiewicz was helpless to stop it -- to make the scoreline 2-0. After that, it was easy for Leverkusen, who ended up with 68% of the possession in the match, to kill time for the rest of the first half. 

Urs Fischer didn’t waste any time in trying to find a solution to Union’s problems, bringing on the woefully underutilized Akaki Gogia for Sheraldo Becker at halftime. While it was nice to see Gogia back on the pitch, Union clearly missed the pace of Becker, who has been officially clocked as the fastest player in the Bundesliga. 

In the 48th minute, Fischer was forced into another sub when Christopher Lenz hobbled off to be replaced by Ken Reichel -- a sub that, if it hadn’t been injury-induced, I likely would have cheered (though not without some guilt; I’m not a total monster after all). While Lenz’s darting runs and arcing crosses do enhance Union’s attack, his defensive prowess leaves something to be desired, especially when compared with the solid and reliable Reichel. That one notices Lenz far more than Reichel when he is on the pitch, to the point that it took me all of last season to even figure out what Reichel looked like despite him starting 27 matches, tells you everything about the difference between them at left back; with the exception of Christopher Trimmel’s set pieces, I prefer to notice my team’s backline as little as possible during a match. 

Fischer’s final substitution happened around the hour mark, with Sebastian Polter taking the place of Markus Ingvartsen in the attack. In his remarks to the press earlier this week, Fischer implied that he had spoken to Polter -- who has barely featured so far this season despite being one of Union’s most beloved players and most effusive goalscorers -- about his work rate leaving something to be desired. A half an hour to help his team rectify a 2-0 deficit seemed like an ideal scenario for Polter to prove Fischer wrong. 

Needless to say, Polter did indeed bring the passion as soon as he stepped foot onto the pitch -- too much passion. Four minutes into his appearance, a reckless tackle on Julian Baumgartlinger earned Polter first a yellow, and then, after referee Robert Hartmann consulted once again with VAR, a straight red. This brief and inglorious cameo will keep Polter out of the home match against Frankfurt and likely won’t do much to get him more playing time from Fischer in the near future. 

Polter’s red card was Union’s third in five matches. Perhaps it is the pressure of being the first-ever Union Berlin team to play in the top flight, perhaps it is the passion of wanting to make some of the most loyal fans in Germany proud -- likely it is a combination of both. Whatever the case may be, Union are going to have to be much better at keeping cool heads moving forward. At least one, if not all three, points against Frankfurt at home on Friday night should go a long way towards getting this team back on track. We know that they have the talent to contend with the best of the Bundesliga; the question of whether they have the mental strength to avoid continually making the kinds of individual errors that cost them games remains to be seen.