Leverkusen take command at the break as Equi Fernández sets the tone

Bayer Leverkusen have one foot in the dressing-room break after a dominant first 45 minutes at the BayArena. The Bundesliga meeting with Union Berlin stands at 2-0, with both goals arriving before the half-hour mark in a spell that flattened the visitors' gameplan. Equi Fernández opened the scoring in the first minute, finishing on his left foot from open play after service from Miguel Gutiérrez, with the goal carrying an xG of 0.36. It was the kind of start that tells the opposition everything about the 45 minutes ahead.

Leverkusen lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with the wide creator Patrik Schick asked to support a central forward and Aleix García pulling the strings from deep. Union Berlin deployed a 4-1-2-1-2, the lone sitting midfielder tasked with screening a back four that spent long stretches pressed onto their own box. The shape held for less than a minute. Equi Fernández's early goal was the first signal of a passing rhythm Leverkusen would barely interrupt for the rest of the half.

The second goal arrived from a dead ball, which felt inevitable given the territorial picture. Facundo Medina rose to head in from a corner in the 28th minute, with Miguel Gutiérrez again the supplier. The finish carried a 0.42 xG, a reminder that even Leverkusen's set-pieces were arriving in dangerous zones rather than hopeful crosses. Of the home side's 1.55 xG at the break, 0.54 came from set-pieces and 1.01 from open play, an unusually even split that explains why Union Berlin never found a foothold.

Union Berlin managed a single shot in the half and zero efforts on target. Leverkusen had 12 attempts and 6 on target, with 23 touches in the opposition box against 2. Possession ran 70-30, with the home side completing 290 passes at 91 percent accuracy while Union managed 94 at 73 percent. The visitors' 40 passes in the Leverkusen half tells its own story; the 153 Leverkusen managed the other way is the louder number.

The match ball goes to Equi Fernández by some distance. His 0.47 xG was the highest of any player on the pitch, paired with the opening goal and a shot on target that demanded attention. The snapshot rating of 8.08 was the strongest in the half. Facundo Medina's header matched him on the scoresheet, with his 0.42 xG underlining the quality of the chance rather than the scrappiness. Miguel Gutiérrez's two assists, both from different situations, complete a first half in which the supply line never dried up.

For Union Berlin, the numbers read like a team pinned in their own third. No shots on target, no corners, no entries of note into the Leverkusen box, and a single booking to accompany the frustration. Steffen Baumgart's side have it all to do after the restart, and the brief suggested this is a Bayer Leverkusen win that the chance creation supports rather than flatters.

FotMob.