Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz made one change to the side that won at Augsburg: Mitchell Weiser was replaced at right back by the skipper Lars Bender.
While the Werkself had won the previous three games, Frankfurt were on a run of three games without a win. That meant the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga now only had a three-point lead over Bayer 04. Another three points would but the Black and Reds level on points with the team from Hessen.
Havertz Leads the way, Brandt follows
And the hosts were straight out of the blocks in front of a full house. The lead came with the first attack: Julian Brandt sent Charles Aránguiz down the left, the Chilean passed into the penalty area to Kai Havertz who steadied himself and then placed a low shot into the right corner from 16 yards out. 1-0 to the Werkself after two minutes. It was the 15th goal of the season for Havertz.
The hosts led the way and continued to apply pressure. And they were quickly rewarded again: Volland burst through down the left, crossed to the right where Aránguiz played the ball straight into the middle for Brandt. The Germany international deftly turned the ball into the net from close range to make it 2-0 on 12 minutes. Seconds later Frankfurt hit back: Filip Kostic tried a speculative effort from 25 yards out and Jonathan Tah's attempt to block the shot unfortunately deflected the ball past a helpless Lukas Hradecky – now it was 2-1 with 14 minutes on the clock.
The Werkself on fire
The Werkself remained undaunted and carried on playing their unstoppable football that left Eintracht helpless. A header from Lucas Alario went in off Brandt's chest to put Bayer 04 3-1 up on 23 minutes. Just four minutes later, Makoto Hasebe unable to stop Aránguiz on the left and the Chilean hammered the ball into the net to make it 4-1 with 28 minutes played.
Bayer 04 were on fire. Everything went right for the Bosz Boys with attack after attack rolling in on the Frankfurt goal. The Black and Reds were playing high tempo attacking football of the highest quality and also proved to be clinical. Kevin Volland shook off David Abraham on the left and then picked out Alario who converted from close range to make it 5-1 on 34 minutes. The visitors, who had a hard shift on Thursday night in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Europa League, were unable to keep up today. Two minutes later a Brandt free kick from the right was turned into his own net by Martin Hinteregger. 6-1 to Bayer 04 after just 36 minutes!
Bundesliga record Equalled
It was incredible. The 6-1 scoreline at the break saw the Werkself level a Bundesliga record: Only four other teams in the history of Germany's top flight have scored six goals in the first half. The dominance of the hosts is reflected in this statistic: Bayer 04 had over 80 per cent possession in the first 45 minutes. And this game also provided another record: there have never been more than seven goals in one half before in the Bundesliga.
The Werkself continued to control proceedings in the second half. But now the visitors were occupied with damage limitation. Nevertheless, Leverkusen still produced several decent opportunities. The Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp kept out Havertz on 65 minutes after a fine pass from Volland. And he also kept out another effort from Havertz three minutes later. The Bosz team were now more relaxed and not as ambitious as in the first half. Substitute Paulinho just missed the target with a low shot (85') and Volland hit another shot over the bar (87').
Bayer 04 level on points with Eintracht
The game ended in a 6-1 victory, the fourth on the bounce for the Werkself. Bayer 04 move up to fifth place, level on points with Frankfurt and also with ground made up in terms of goal difference. The difference between the two sides is now five goals.
Bayer 04 are back in action on matchday 33 with the last home game of the season against Schalke 04. The match at the BayArena on Saturday 11 May kicks off at 15.30 CET.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – L. Bender (Weiser 67'), Tah, S. Bender (Dragovic 60'), Wendell – Aránguiz, Baumgartlinger, Brandt – Havertz, Alario (Paulinho 83'), Volland
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp – Abraham, Hinteregger, Ndicka (Jovic 37') - Touré, Willems (Gacinovic 37’)- Hasebe, Fernandes - da Costa (Chandler 74’), Kostic - Rebic
Goals: 1-0 Havertz (2’), 2-0 Brandt (12’), 2-1 Kostic (13’), 3-1 Brandt (23’), 4-1 Aránguiz (28’), 5-1 Alario (34’), 6-1 Hinteregger (o.g., 36’)
Referee: Robert Hartmann (Wangen)
Booked: Hinteregger, Abraham, Fernandes
Attendance: 30,210 (sell-out)
