Berlin (Germany), January 16: Cedric Teuchert's sole goal was enough for Union Berlin to extend Bayer Leverkusen's winless streak to four league games following the curtain-raiser of the Bundesliga's 16th round.
The "Werkself" dominated possession from the kick-off and had the first chance of the game with 14 minutes played after Nadiem Amiri pulled wide from the edge of the box.
Union responded by rattling the outside of the post through Marvin Friedrich following a corner.
It remained the best chance for the remainder of the first half as Leverkusen lacked in penetration and tried to reach success with long-range efforts against a well-positioned Union.
After the restart, Union took over and should have opened the scoring but Teuchert wasn't able to make the most out of a counterattack in the 50th minute.
Union focussed on fast breaks and made Leverkusen's life difficult as Teuchert missed the target once again from a promising position at the hour mark.
The visitors posed no threat whereas Union Berlin squandered another chance four minutes later after Christopher Trimmel missed the goal.
Urs Fischer's men eventually broke the deadlock with two minutes remaining when Christopher Lenz's through ball allowed Teuchert to overcome onrushing Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky with a lob from inside the box.
With the result, Union Berlin wrapped up its seventh win of the season to move into 4th for the moment while Bayer Leverkusen suffered its third loss to stay in 3rd place in the standings.
"We played very well in the first half, but we should have marked the opener. Union lurked only for counterattacks and caught us flatfooted late in the second half. It is a bitter loss for us," Leverkusen midfielder Kerem Demirbay said.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Borussia Dortmund host bottom side Mainz, Hoffenheim face newcomers Arminia Bielefeld, Wolfsburg clash with runner up Leipzig, Cologne encounter Hertha Berlin, Werder Bremen see Augsburg and newly promoted Stuttgart take on Borussia Monchengladbach.
Source: Xinhua
