Half-Time Report: Bayer Leverkusen in control against Benfica

Bayer Leverkusen are on course for a victory to boost their hopes of Champions League progress after opening up a 2-0 lead against Portuguese giants Benfica.

Looking to rebound from an opening-day defeat against Monaco, Bayer made a positive start with Stefan Kiessling providing an early chance when he cut the ball back into the path of Son Heung-Min, but his shot was straight at Julio Cesar.

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The Bundesliga outfit nearly breached the Benfica defence when Hakan Calhanoglu saw his effort blocked before the rebound reached Lars Bender, and the midfielder's curling effort beat Cesar but not the frame of the goal.

Leverkusen finally broke the deadlock on 25 minutes when Son unleashed a fierce shot, which Cesar could only parry into the path of Kiessling and the German forward coolly scored.

On 34 minutes, the hosts extended their lead when Son latched on to Karim Bellarabi's cut-back before smashing the ball into the back of the net.

Bellarabi almost added a third before half time as he narrowly missed the target as Bayer continued to dominate the game.