Peter Bosz made one change to the side that beat Paderborn 3-2 and that gave the Werkself a somewhat more attacking look: Bellarabi replaced Julian Baumgartlinger and played on the right wing with the Bayer 04 coach opting for a back three in defence. "More grip on the game," said Bosz in explaining the move.
And his team put that into action from the start at the Düsseldorf Arena. Playing with a 4-1-4-1 formation, the Werkself were immediately on top and were able to press forward at will towards the Fortuna goal. Kevin Volland tested the Düsseldorf keeper Zackary Steffen with the first shot on four minutes. The USA international was in the right spot but a few moments later he was left helpless – and again Volland played a crucial role. The Werkself striker broke down the right, beat Andre Hoffmann and hit the ball into the box where Kerem Demirbay was ready to shoot. Düsseldorf's Baker tried to intervene but only succeeded in turning the ball from the Leverkusen number ten into his own net – an early lead for Bayer 04 (6'). Bellarabi almost immediately doubled the advantage but his deflected shot only hit the side netting (7').
The first threat for Lukas Hradecky only came after a quarter of an hour but the black and red wall on the edge of the box stood firm from a Kaan Ayhan free kick to block the effort by the hosts' defender (15'). Bayer 04 were not were not put off their stroke – quite the opposite. The travelling Werkself fans were about to celebrate a second goal but Markus Suttner was on the goal-line as he kept out a Sven Bender header from a Demirbay corner (19'). Demirbay was again on the verge of scoring his first goal in black and red but his curler from 15 yards out went just wide of the left-hand post (23').
The second goal for Bayer 04 was in the air – and the Bosz team were rewarded for their impressive efforts on 33 minutes: Demirbay chipped a free kick from the halfway line into the box where Aránguiz made space for himself, controlled the ball with his chest and hammered it into the net under the bar. Referee Patrick Ittrich first disallowed the goal due to handball but VAR intervened to clarify the situation: There was nothing wrong with the strike. After a delay, the visiting section once again celebrated – 2-0 for the Werkself.
Bayer 04 produced several successful moves in this first away game and soon added another goal. Once again, Volland did some sterling work beating Hoffman in the penalty area before picking out Bellarabi who had no trouble in making it 3-0 (38'). The only thing that could stop the Werkself at this point in the game was the half-time whistle.
The Bosz team carried on where they left off after the restart: with total football. Just 30 seconds had been played in the second half when Bellarabi missed out in a one-on-one with Steffen who prevented conceding a fourth goal with some brilliant work with his feet (46'). A long-range drive from the ever-present Demirbay flashed just past the target (58') and Steffen pulled off another brilliant save to deny Bellarabi (64') and the Werkself then eased off in the sweltering conditions – the game was already decided at this point.
The visitors refused to give up in spite of the scoreline. Hradecky was tested to the full for the first time in the game when he had to save from Adam Bodzek (70'), and he also kept out Morales (76') and Ayhan (80'). The committed Düsseldorf team then scored a not undeserved consolation goal: Morales beat Hradecky to make it 3-1 (82'). That did not affect the deserved victory for Bayer 04 and the team were able to celebrate in style in front of the sold-out visitors block.
Bayer 04 start the new Bundesliga season with two wins for the first time since 2015. Equally positive from a black and red perspective: Both Moussa Diaby (for Leon Bailey 66') and Nadiem Amiri (for Kerem Demirbay 83') came off the bench to celebrate their Bundesliga debuts for the Werkself.
Not only those two players will be in confident mood next Saturday (31 August, 15.30 CET) when TSG Hoffenheim are the visitors at the BayArena. Hoffenheim today secured their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory against Werder Bremen.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – L. Bender, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Aránguiz – Bellarabi, Havertz, Demirbay (Amiri 83’), Bailey (Diaby 66’) – Volland (Alario 77’)
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Steffen - Zimmermann, Ayhan, Hoffmann, Gießelmann - Morales, Baker (Bodzek 67’) - Thommy, Suttner (Tekpetey 46’) - Karaman (Kownacki 59’), Hennings
Goals: 0-1 Baker (o.g., 6’), 0-2 Aránguiz (33’), 0-3 Bellarabi (38’), 1-3 Morales (82’)
Referee: Patrick Ittrich (Hamburg)
Booked: Baker, Zimmermann, Morales - Tah
Attendance: 44,000
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