#BOCB04 review: ‘We'll take the point’

SUMMARY: WOODWORK HERE,  PENALTY THERE

After two wins in succession, Bayer 04 had to settle for one point in Bochum – that was also due to the improper and thereby missed penalty from Moussa Diaby on 65 minutes. The France international touched the ball with his standing leg as he was about to shoot. But everything in order: With three changes to the starting line-up compared with the 2-1 home win against Hertha Berlin, the Werkself had the first chance of the game through Patrik Schick (4'). That was followed 20 minutes later by Mitchel Bakker coming on to replace the injured Jonathan Tah. The best chance of the first half fell to the hosts: Bochum's left-back Danilo Soares cut inside and shot from 20 yards out but the slightly deflected effort hit the bar of Lukas Hradecky’s goal (42').

The battling Bochum side remained on the front foot at the start of the second half. The biggest chance fell to the visitors – as previously mentioned to Diaby to be more exact. But nothing came of an important opener. Bochum continued to press and made life difficult for the Werkself. Lukas Hradecky saved a header from Danny Blum on 86 minutes. That was followed by the final whistle and the game ending goalless.

REACTION: "THE DRAW IS OK"

Head coach Gerardo Seoane summed up proceedings at the post-match press conference as follows: "We didn't succeed in posing enough problems for the Bochum defence. So the draw is ok." Looking at the position of the top of the Bundesliga table the Swiss coach added: "The state of the table and possible head-to-head matches in a few weeks don't interest me. We will analyse the match against Bochum, take care of the injured players over the next few days and then look forward to the match against Leipzig."

Midfield dynamo Robert Andrich saw a solid Leverkusen defence, "but we didn't do enough up front." And he continued: "If the penalty goes in then we take the three points. So, we'll have to live with the draw."

PERSONNEL: TAH GOES OFF - SINKGRAVEN COMES ON

Key defender Jonathan Tah suffered an injury on 27 minutes in a challenge with Sebastian Polter and immediately indicated he needed to be substituted. Gerardo Seoane told Mitchel Bakker to pull on his shirt and put his shin guards in his socks and then the Dutchman came on to replace Tah playing on the left side with Piero Hincapie moving alongside Edmond Tapsoba in central defence.

STATS: FIRST GOALLESS GAME THIS SEASON

VfL Bochum had the edge with the total number of shots on goal (12:9). However, Bayer 04 had the upper hand in relation to possession (59%), challenges (52%) and pass completion (79%, Bochum: 73%). A special point from a Black and Red perspective: A game involving Bayer 04 ended goalless for the first time this season.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: "BOTH TEAMS TOO HARMLESS"

kicker summed up #BOCB04 as follows: "A deserved draw. Both teams were too harmless to come out on top." The headlines are primarily concerned with the penalty miss by Diaby and comparisons were made with FC Köln player Florian Kainz: The Austria international also slipped taking a spot kick in the penalty shootout against Hamburg SV in the DFB Cup Round of 16 tie on 18 January when he hit the ball against himself. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger assessment of the match was: "The Sunday afternoon at Bochum's wonderfully atmospheric Ruhrstadion was characterised by slips and stumbles."

OUTLOOK: TOP TEAM IN SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON AWAITS

No question: RB Leipzig are currently flying high. The team from Saxony have collected an impressive 29 points in the twelve games since the winter break and they have also scored the most goals and conceded the least. The team coached by Domenico Tedesco visits the BayArena on Easter Sunday 17 April. The clash of third against fourth kicks off at 19.30 CEST.