"Jewel Havertz crowns his perfect week," was the headline in the Monday edition of the Express and the Bayer 04 homegrown player is described as the "man of the moment" at the Werkself thanks to his three goals in four days. "Bayer are back on track thanks to Havertz. After a false start to the Bundesliga campaign with three defeats, the Werkself are now finally got going." The Cologne tabloid sums up yesterday's match as follows: "Bayer created a host of clear-cut chances in the first 45 minutes (16 shots to 1 in their favour) but the ball wouldn't go in. […] There a worrying moment at the other when when a goal by Quaison was ruled out by referee Fritz after consulting the VAR evidence. The right decision: The Swede had handled the ball."
Colleagues at the Münchner Merkur took a similar view (Headline: "Relief for Leverkusen"): "The hosts had more of the game in the first half with Mainz concentrating on quick counter-attacks after winning possession but initially they failed to pose a threat to Lukas Hradecky's goal. Bayer had a lot of joy down the right flank and they created more and more clear chances before the break. The game changed after the restart, Mainz improved but Havertz ended up winning the game with his goal."
The local to our opponents Rhein-Main-Zeitung ("No reward for late dominance") wrote: "Against a very sharp Bayer side, 05 were unable to produce any decent build-up play. Incredibly, Mainz survived the first half without conceding in spite of continuous pressure. That was mainly due to the inability of Leverkusen to take their chances and two saves by the goalkeeper: Florian Müller turned a Leon Bailey free kick aimed at the near post away from a corner (25') and his best deed was saving a shot from Dominik Kohr from ten yards out on the line (38')."
The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger ("Havertz stands out again") reports: "With a mixture of superior class, lack of efficiency and luck in defence Bayer 04 achieved the minimum win of 1-0 against FSV Mainz 05," before going on to praise the Werkself number 29: "The only goal of the game was scored by Kai Havertz. That was no surprise for anybody. The 19-year-old has become a figure of hope for the Werkself who started the matchday with no points at the bottom of the table."
While today's edition of the BILD newspaper headline reads "Havertz points for Herrlich“ reflecting the first Bundesliga win, the Rheinische Post ("Havertz gets Leverkusen back on track") focuses on the match-winner."Havertz covered the most kilometres against Mainz, had the most sprints, the most shots on goal, had an outstanding pass rate and deservedly scored the only goal of the game with his head from a cross by Julian Brandt (62'). In spite of his outstanding performance, the highly talented homegrown player remains remarkably cool. He is happy if he can help the team with his goals he said with all the train modesty of all football pros […].
And the Bonner General Anzeiger ("End of holiday under Bayer cross") also praised the exceptionally talented youngster: "At the age of 19, Havertz is the youngest player in the Werkself squad – but that has not prevented him scoring the winner in the 1-0 win against Mainz three days after his two goals in the 3-2 victory in the Europa League in Rasgrad in Bulgaria."
The headline in the Monday edition of the kicker sports journal reads: "One Havertz. Three points. Nothing more!" And the assessment of the Werkself is mixed "given the disappointing performance after the break". However, with two wins in four days, Bayer have at least laid down the foundation.That the warrior (Lars Bender, ed.) can speak of a "positive trend" is almost entirely due to Kai Havertz. As in the 3-2 win in Rasgrad, the 19-year-old was also the decisive player against Mainz," added the kicker report.
