Head coach Kasper Hjulmand made two changes to his starting line-up compared to the 2-0 defeat at Olympiacos in the Champions League: Jonas Hofmann and Patrik Schick started in place of Ezequiel Fernández and Christian Kofane. The Werkself began the game with more possession, but Bremen had the first shot on goal after three minutes: Jens Stage tried his luck with a quickly taken free kick, but his low shot was no problem for Janis Blaswich. At the other end, Loïc Badé had his first chance on eight minutes after a cross from Aleix Garcia, but Werder keeper Mio Backhaus made the save. Shortly afterwards, Patrik Schick netted from a cross by Badé, but the Czech touched the ball with his arm. Referee Tobias Reichel disallowed the goal and Bayer 04's celebrations were cut short. Four minutes later, Ernest Poku somehow failed to score in front of an empty Bremen net after Schick had played him in with a fine cross-field pass.
The eventful start was followed by a quieter phase, but Bayer 04 had the next chances: Schick aimed at goal twice (31st, 33rd), and Poku once (34th). Finally, the Black and Reds took a deserved 37th minute lead: after an exchange of passes in the Bremen penalty area, the ball came to Ibrahim Maza, who played a fine through ball to Lucas Vázquez. The Spaniard made no mistake and put away his maiden goal for Bayer 04, slotting home to make it 1-0. Bremen's Justin Njinmah almost equalised with a 41st-minute header, but the ball came back off the post. Shortly before the end of the first half, Maza also hit the frame of the goal with a long-range shot. Leverkusen went into the break with a single-goal lead.
The second half began with a flurry of action: Schick (47) and Alejandro Grimaldo (50) tried their luck for Bayer 04, but between those efforts, Jarell Quansah pulled off a last-gasp block to deny Bremen's Romano Schmid. Attacking moves and goalmouth incidents were thin on the ground for a long spell after that.
The crowd rose in delight some 20 minutes before the final whistle. Hjulmand had previously brought on Fernández and Malik Tillman for Vázquez and Poku (57), and then sent out Arthur and Exequiel Palacios for Maza and Garcia in the 72nd minute. Palacios celebrated his long-awaited return after long months out with injury. With the Argentine World Cup winner and the other new players on the pitch, the Black and Reds created more good chances. Grimaldo, for example, was narrowly denied from close range by Bremen keeper Backhaus (75). Leverkusen remained solid at the back and vigorously defended their lead, seeing out the win without further ado.
Next up for the Werkself is a crucial Champions League match to conclude the league phase of the competition. Bayer 04, currently 20th in the table, welcome Villarreal, currently in 31st place and yet to win. Leverkusen will be fighting for a place in the play-off round in the game at the BayArena on Wednesday, 28 January at 21:00 CET. Only the teams finishing between 9th and 24th will compete in the play-off round in February.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Blaswich - Quansah, Andrich, Badé - Vázquez (57. Fernández), Maza (72. Arthur), Garcia (72. Palacios), Grimaldo - Hofmann, Poku (57. Tillman) - Schick
Bremen: Backhaus - Pieper (15. Malatini), Friedl, Coulibaly - Sugawara (79. Topp), Lynen, Schmidt (46. Deman) - Schmid, Stage - Njinmah, Grüll (60. Milosevic)
Goal: 1-0 Vázquez (37)
Yellow cards: Hofmann, Badé - Friedl, Malatini, Deman
Referee: Tobias Reichel (Sindelfingen)
Attendance: 30,210 (capacity) at the BayArena
Bayer 04 will have to manage without forward Moussa Diaby for their upcoming matches. The 27-year-old Frenchman sustained a thigh injury in the 3-0 defeat against TSG Hoffenheim yesterday afternoon, Sunday 25 October. Diaby is expected to be available again after the international break in November.
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