5.08.2017Bayer 04

Werkself fight back in tough test against Celta Vigo

The Werkself are increasingly on track ahead of the first competitive match of the season in the DFB Cup at Karlsruher FC. The final pre-season friendly against Celta Vigo ended all square at 3-3 but the results does not really reflect the match at the BayArena.

Heiko Herrlich's team were clearly the better side but they failed to make the most of their goalscoring opportunities. In contrast, the visitors proved efficient and were ruthless in converting their chances. "The result in no way reflects the course of the game," declared the Bayer 04 coach.

From the kick-off, the Werkself showed intent to produce a performance in the final pre-season friendly. However, in spite of the bright start, it was the visitors from Spain who took the lead on six minutes – after excellent control of the ball, the Vigo striker John Guidetti fired his shot under the bar leaving the Bayer 04 keeper Bernd Leno helpless.

Clear excess of chances for the Werkself

The Werkself refused to be cowed after going behind and they asserted their presence on the game leaving the Spanish top-flight side little chance to open up. That led to the Werkself creating a lot of good goalscoring opportunities: Kevin Volland (11', 36'), Dominik Kohr (12', 25'), Karim Bellarabi (15', 23') and Admir Mehmedi (31') were unable to find the back of the Celta Vigo net. The Herrlich team were unlucky to go into half-time 1-0 down. Apart from the goal, there was little to see of the visitors in attack.
An unchanged Werkself eleven continued in the same vein after the restart. An aggressive approach to challenges saw Bayer 04 win possession and create chance after chance. The second goal of the match came out of the blue with Celta Vigo doubling their lead thanks again to Guidetti who beat Leno in the penalty area on 61 minutes. There appeared to be a foul on Sven Bender near the halfway line in the build-up but to the surprise of many of the Bayer 04 players it was not seen by referee Sven Wachitzki.

Three goals in twelve minutes

Anybody who thought the Werkself might fold after conceding a second goal was to be disappointed. Driven on by Kevin Kampl and Dominik Kohr, the 15,000-strong crowd saw the hosts stand-up bravely and it was all one-way traffic after that. There was great belief amongst the Black and Reds when Admir Mehmedi chested down the ball to hit a powerful volley into the far corner to pull a goal back on 65 minutes. Four minutes later came the equaliser from substitute Joel Pohjanpalo with a fine low effort. And celebrations were even more evident at the BayArena when Kevin Volland hit a shot from the edge of the box on 77 minutes with the ball ending in the back of the net to put the Werkself 3-2 up.
The brilliant performance of the Werkself was then tarnished slightly by an equaliser for the Celta Vigo scored by Maxi Gómez on 83 minutes. "It's annoying that it ended 3-3. We deserved to win today. Unfortunately, we again failed to convert our chances, particularly in the first half," said Heiko Herrlich who is convinced his team is on course for the forthcoming cup game in Karlsruhe.

Bayer 04: Leno – Henrichs (Baumgartlinger 81’), Tah, S. Bender (Ramalho 68’), Wendell – Kampl, Kohr – Bellarabi (Bailey 81’), Mehmedi – Havertz (Pohjanpalo 60’), Volland

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