Bayer 04 lose out to early goals

The goalscorer was suitably unimpressed. "It was down to us because we made stupid mistakes at certain moments as with the two goals we conceded. We let in two  relatively simple goals that resulted from our own mistakes. It's annoying," said Brandt.

Three days after the convincing 4-0 win against Freiburg, Bayer 04 were looking for the next victory in Berlin – and Heiko Herrlich wanted to achieve maximum continuity with the selection of his team: Both the Werkself starting eleven and the seven players on the bench were the same as on Sunday. "We want to carry on where we left off in the Freiburg match," said the Bayer 04 coach ahead of the kick-off. It took less than 60 seconds for his team to follow that instruction: After good  work by Kevin Volland, Brandt had a shot from inside the box but the Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein pulled off a great save as the ball was heading for the far corner of the net – Bayer 04 certainly laid down a marker!

Great intervention from Retsos

The Werkself quickly got into the game with solid challenges and the ability to move the ball well. And Panos Retsos soon had the chance to demonstrate his ability: It was fantastic how the young Greek pulled off an heroic tackle to stop Leckie at the last possible moment as he broke clear from his own half on nine minutes. Hertha almost had a great chance out of the blue. Shortly after that they did take the lead. Leckie was given far too much room on the right side of the penalty area and he curled the ball into the top corner of the net – Bernd Leno, in his unfamiliar black kit, was unable to get near the Australian's shot on 16 minutes.

After the impressive start by Bayer 04 that was the first sign of a threat from the hosts. And they quickly doubled the lead with the help of a half-awake Werkself defence: The home captain Vedad Ibisevic latched onto a throw-in and tempted Leno out of his net and Kalou was in the right spot to head the ball into the net to make it 2-0 on 24 minutes – A bitter blow for the visitors to be hit twice in quick succession. Leverkusen were clearly affected and found it difficult to pose a threat in the final third. Karim Bellarabi volleyed the ball into the net but referee Deniz Aytekin ruled the strike out for a foul by Kai Havertz in an aerial duel with Mitchell Weiser on 32 minutes. Leno was then forced into making a sensational save from a well-placed header by Ibisevic five minutes before the break

Heiko Herrlich made two changes at half-time: Jonathan Tah and Admir Mehmedi replaced Wendell and Bellarabi with Retsos playing on the left side of central defence from that point. It was clear Bayer 04 would have to take risks to make good the two-goal deficit. Dominik Kohr fired in a volley from 20 yards out but Marvin Plattenhardt was able to clear on the line (53'). A goal was in the air. Bayer04 pushed forward but also had to defend as the Berlin side posed a threat with their counter-attacks. Herrlich played his final attacking card on 70 minutes when he brought on Leon Bailey in place of Lars Bender.

Brandt pulls goal back

Bayer 04 were now camped in the Berlin half but were unable to land a decisive punch. Bailey came closest when he broke into the box and fired a shot goalwards only for Jarstein to get his arm to the ball as it was heading for the near corner of the net on 75 minutes. When Volland went down in the box under a challenge from Karim Rekik on 83 minutes, there was no whistle or use of possible video evidence. The Werkself were finally rewarded for their efforts at the start of a hectic end to the game: A low shot from Brandt was slightly deflected into the net to make it 2-1 on 84 minutes – his second goal of the season. Bayer 04 pressed for the leveller: a shot from Kohr flashed over the bar on 89 minutes. There were five minutes of added time at the Olympic Stadium – but the Werkself were unable to find an equaliser.

The Werkself are next in action in this busy week of fixtures with a home fixture against Hamburg SV on Sunday. The match at the BayArena kicks off at 18.00 CET.

Match stats:

Hertha Berlin: Jarstein – Weiser, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt – Darida, Skjelbred – Leckie, Duda (Lustenberger 68'), Kalou (Haraguchi 87') – Ibisevic (Esswein 68')

Bayer 04: Leno – L. Bender (Bailey 69.'), Retsos, S. Bender, Wendell (Tah 46') – Kohr, Aránguiz – Bellarabi (Mehmedi 46'), Havertz, Brandt – Volland

Goals: 1-0 Leckie (16'), 2-0 Kalou (24'), 2-1 Brandt (84')

Booked: Jarstein – Volland, Retsos

Referee: Aytekin (Oberaspach)

Attendance: 32,825