Haris Seferovic put the ball into the middle on 30 minutes and the Leverkusen pro took aim. Mehmedi's shot flew into the top of the net at the far post and he was immediately mobbed by his teammates. A wonder strike that sealed a deserved win in the World Cup qualifier.
And Hakan Calhanoglu proved reliable yet again. In added time at the end of the first half in Zagreb the Turkey midfielder placed the ball, took a short run-up and fired the ball into the back of the net. Luck was on Hakan's side as is effort was deflected but the strike was enough to secure a 1-1 draw in Croatia and appoint in the opening game of World Cup Qualification Group I. Calhanoglu's Leverkusen teammate Tin Jedvaj spent 90 minutes on the subs bench for Croatia.
As both the other two matches in the group also ended all square at 1-1 there are six teams at the bottom or at the top of the group. One of these games took place in Turku in Finland where Joel Pohjanpalo lined up for his country against newcomers Kosovo. Pohjanpalo played the full 90 minutes.
Vladlen Yurchenko is still waiting for his debut after his first call-up for the senior Ukraine team due to injury. Without him in the squad Ukraine were only able to secure a 1-1 draw against Iceland, the surprise team at Euro 2016. The group will prove to be interesting given there are four Leverkusen players involved.
Julian Baumgartlinger celebrated a special debut: The 28-year-old captained Austria for the first time on Monday night and he put on an impressive display in defensive midfield alongside David Alaba. Austria ended up winning 2-1 in Georgia with new Leverkusen signing Aleksandar Dragovic also playing the full game. Goalkeeper Ramazan Özcan was on the bench.
A Werkself youngster was in action on Monday night when defender Joel Abu Hanna came off the bench on 58 minutes in the 2-1 defeat for the Germany U19's against Netherlands.
Other matches on Tuesday
Robbie Kruse was in the Australia line-up against the United Arab Emirates as the Socceroos earned a deserved 1-0 win in the World Cup qualifier. Kruse went off in the closing minutes after producing an impressive performance. Charles Aránguiz was in the Chile side as La Roja played out a 0-0 draw with Bolivia. Benny Henrichs was in the Germany U21 squad for the 1-0 win away to Finland but he did not play in the match.
St. Pauli are the visitors to Leverkusen for today’s 3.30pm CET kick-off on Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga, with some 3,000 fans from Hamburg coming to a sold-out BayArena. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
Show moreBayer 04 take on St. Pauli in the Bundesliga for the first time in 13 years in front of a sold-out BayArena crowd on Saturday (kick-off: 3.30pm CET). Ahead of the game, head coach Xabi Alonso spoke about Pauli’s “structure and dynamic”, as well as options in attack in the absence of Patrik Schick and the final run to the end of the year.
Show moreFor the first time in 13 years, Bayer 04 welcome St. Pauli to the BayArena this Saturday (kick-off: 3.30pm CET). The promoted side have shown so far that that are a tough nut to crack, while last week’s first home win of the season proves they have potential in attack. Here’s all you need to know about our next opponents.
Show moreBayer 04 Women produced an excellent performance to beat Wolfsburg 1-0 at home on Friday night and knock the She-Wolves off top spot in the Google Pixel Bundesliga as the season reached its halfway stage. Cornelia Kramer got the only goal early in the second half in front of a crowd of 1,510 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. The result makes it five straight wins in all competitions for Leverkusen, who go top overnight on 26 points – the best total in the club’s history from the first half of a Bundesliga season – ahead of the DFB Pokal holders with 25.
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