What the papers say: The moment of the match

"No change: The team from the south-west of Bavaria cannot win against the Werkself. After the 3-0 victory, Bayer 04, on 13 points, are near the top of the table," reports the Rheinische Post. "As expected, Bayer had more possession, Augsburg were quick to challenge, thanks to good organisation, looking to provoke misplaced passes or long balls. Both approaches failed to achieve the desired result….But Bayer increasingly came into the game, pushed FCA back and moved towards their penalty area. However, the first goalscorer on a sunny afternoon in the south-west of Bavaria was wearing a white and green shirt but it was Leverkusen in black and red who celebrated the opening goal. Amiri crossed into the box from the left, Niederlechner tried to intervene by heading the ball but only succeeded in turning it into his own net (35').

The team coached by Martin Schmidt came out after the break full of enthusiasm and obvious desire to score the equaliser as soon as possible but mostly their play was too careless to produce a clear-cut chance. At the other end, Volland hit the side netting (51') following a cross from Weiser and a Kai Havertz header from close range was saved because he hit Felix Uduokhai instead of the back of the net (58'). Augsburg's best chance for an equaliser from Julian Schieber was well saved by Lukas Hradecky (72'). Shortly after that, Volland settled it with a lovely lob from 25 yards out (74').… Havertz added another from close range in the closing stages after a fine cross from Amiri (84'). The second win without conceding in succession is not only important for the position the table but also for confidence. Looking at the gargantuan task in Turin on Tuesday night, the Werkself can hardly get enough of that."

A lucky own goal followed by Bayer 04 magic

The BILD sums up the match in one sentence: "A lucky own goal followed by Bayer magic." And then continues: "Bayer from the start with plenty of possession but the lead for the Bosz team was scored by the unfortunate Augsburg player Florian Niederlechner who headed the ball into his own net from a great Amiri cross (35'). That's already the fourth own goal for Leverkusen: In the 4-1 win in the cup at Aachen, in the 3-1 victory in Düsseldorf and in the 2-1 defeat against Lokomotiv Moscow, it was the opponents who scored the first goal for Leverkusen. No coincidence! Peter Bosz (55) said before the game against Union Berlin (2-0) that they would force six or seven own goals over the course of the season. Then Leverkusen really turned it on and conjured up a convincing win."

Patience and efficiency 

Above all, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger praises the "patience shown by Bayer 04 in breaking down the deep lying Augsburg side and the efficiency shown in taking chances. It was an example of the successful strategy of possession that crushes opponents who won't play but instead look to provoke errors, and forces them to make mistakes themselves. Leverkusen are now proving reliable in achieving that against teams from the bottom half of the table. It remains to be seen whether that can be achieved against the top teams." The reporter was critical of FC Augsburg. "It's not the fault of the team in possession if the other team does not want to have the ball or doesn't know what to do with it. You can't stand to hear complaints about possession per se. If the desire to have the ball becomes a problem of the game then it's time to look to play another game."

Success for Havertz

According to the KSTA, the key moment of the match happened on 84 minutes, "when everything was already decided. Volland and Amiri set up Kai Havertz to make it 3-0. After that succeeded, all available outfield players ran up to the goalscorer, congratulated, embraced and cheered him. Everybody at Bayer 04 is aware of how much they need a Havertz nearly at the top of his game and how very much he is often rightly praised when a win is needed… Another regulation win for the Werkself who have recorded wins against Paderborn, Düsseldorf, Union Berlin and now FC Augsburg. Picking up points where they have to be won is also a quality. But the Champions League participants will only achieve their targets if they can win against a team from the top third of the table. Next Saturday brings a chance against RB Leipzig.

Bundesliga history

Die Welt takes a look at the Bundesliga stats: "Augsburg have not won any of their 17 Bundesliga games against Leverkusen. That is the highest number of times in a fixture in the history of Bundesliga where a team has failed to win."

Amiri and Volland

RP Online named Nadiem Amiri the man of the match. "With his "semi-assist" for the own goal and one to make it 3-0, he was the man of the match. The former Hoffenheim player was lively from the start and is increasingly finding his way in the team." That view is shared by the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger that also identifies another crucial player in addition to the Werkself number 11: "Kevin Volland – According to goals and assists, the best German striker in the calendar year 2019 sealed the win with a placed shot into an empty net, worked hard in several positions and constantly posed a threat. There can be no argument about his value to the team."