"Although Sandhausen are much further advanced in their pre-season we wanted to win. Unfortunately we weren't able to manage it," said the Bayer 04 coach who had to make do without twelve members of his first team squad. However, Herrlich refused to use that as an excuse. "I always differentiate between result and performance. The result is bad without doubt. The performance levels were mixed as I saw a dip in form from the team," explained Herrlich. He did exclude a number of players from this criticism. "For example, Sven Bender broke his nose on ten minutes but continued to fight to the end. Unfortunately, I didn't get the same impression with every player. We'll have to work on that in the next few days," said Bayer 04 coach ahead of the training camp ahead of the training camp in Zell am See in Austria.
Quick answer from Mehmedi
From the start, Sandhausen showed how they were able to beat the Premier League newcomers Huddersfield town, managed by David Wagner, with a 3-2 win in a friendly. With a week to go before the opening league match against Holstein Kiel, the SVS team, coached by Kenan Kocak, confirmed their good recent form against the Werkself with an opening goal on eight minutes – after losing the ball in midfield the former Bayer 04 player Richard Sukuta-Pasu took full advantage to give Sandhausen the lead. The Werkself refused to be cowed: Just two minutes later, Kevin Volland put a diagonal ball through to Admir Mehmedi at the far post for the Swiss striker to level at 1-1.
Stalemate ensued with both teams solid in defence, giving little away in terms of goalscoring opportunities. With four minutes to play in the first half, SVS midfielder Nejmeddin Daghfous brought down Dominik Kohr in the penalty area on his return to the Bayer 04 line-up. Volland stepped up to convert the penalty and give the Werkself a 2-1 lead. That was the score at half-time.
At half-time, Herrlich opted to bring on Julian Baumgartlinger in a holding role in place of Kohr, reorganised the defence to play with three at the back and replaced left back Wendell with striker Joel Pohjanpalo. The Werkself looked bright despite the reorganisation. However, the hosts moved up a gear and put the Herrlich team under increasing pressure as they tired. Just before the hour mark, Kevin Kampl prevented a second goal when he made a last-ditch clearance following a counter-attack. A minute later, Sukuta-Pasu did some impressive work to set up Lucas Höler to level at 2-2.
Werkself miss chances
There was end-to-end action in the closing stages as both teams sought to play on the front foot. For the Werkself, the once again impressive Leon Bailey plus Kai Havertz and Pohjanpalo were unable to convert chances. It was a different story for Sandhausen when Ali Ibrahimaj made it 3-2 with nine minutes to play. Substitute Stefan Kießling had the chance to equalise in the final moments but the SVS goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen was able to protect the hosts' lead. At the other end, the Bayer 04 shot-stopper Ramazan Öczan was able to prevent a heavier defeat with two great saves. The game ended in a 3-2 defeat for the Werkself.
The team headed off to the training camp in Zell am See straight after the match. The squad face a week of intensive preparations with the absent international players making their return. The next friendly is at the training camp on Thursday (18.30 CET) against the Turkish top-flight side Antalyaspor.
Bayer 04: Öczan – Bednarczyk (Akkaynak 72’), Dragovic, S. Bender, Wendell (Pohjanpalo 46’) – Kohr (Baumgartlinger 46’), Kampl (Yurchenko 61’) – Mehmedi, Havertz (Schreck 72’), Bailey – Volland (Kießling 72’)
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