Dominant Werkself secure 2-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt

Compared with the 2-2 draw against Holstein Kiel before the international break, head coach Xabi Alonso made three changes to his starting line-up: Piero Hincapie started in the defence with Exequiel Palacios dropping down to the bench. Robert Andrich returned to a midfield role. Up front, Martin Terrier and Amine Adli started in place of Jonas Hofmann and Florian Wirtz.

Marmoush scores, Andrich levels

Granit Xhaka had the first chance 60 seconds into the game but the midfielder narrowly missed the target with his long-range effort. The hosts dominated in the following phase of the game with much of the possession. The Eintracht Frankfurt defence was exposed to another attack from the Werkself with a foul on Adli in the penalty area resulting in a possible penalty. VAR intervened and referee Dr Felix Brych went to the video screen and then pointed to the spot – Victor Boniface stepped up but the Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp saved his low shot. The visitors then had their first attempt on goal on 12 minutes with Omar Marmoush hitting the bar from distance. VAR intervened again four minutes later: After a foul by Andrich on the impressive Marmoush on the edge of the penalty area, Brych awarded another penalty. The Frankfurt forward took it himself and put the ball in the back of the net to give Eintracht Frankfurt a 1-0 lead.

The Leverkusen players were undaunted as they continued to press forwards in search of a goal. And that paid off on 25 minutes: Andrich passed to Adli on the left and he crossed the ball into the middle to Martin Terrier. The Frenchman played a one-two with Andrich who put the ball past Trapp from a tight angle into the far corner to equalise at 1-1. The Black and Reds looked to get on the front foot as they again and again pressed forward with further chances for Andrich (36') and Alejandro Grimaldo (41'). But none of the efforts ended up in the goal. Hugo Ekitiké appeared to have scored for Eintracht Frankfurt but his effort was adjudged offside. The two sides went into half-time with the scores level.

Wirtz comes on - Boniface gives werkself the lead

The hosts were again on top of the start of the second half: Four minutes after the restart, Terrier put in a cross from the right for a Boniface header but the Nigerian put the ball over the bar. Bayer 04 had the upper hand in the following minutes but the final pass often went astray. Boniface set up goalscorer Andrich with the best chance up to the 63rd minute but his attempt hit the woodwork. Andrich and Co. were then rewarded for their efforts on 72 minutes: A cross from substitute Wirtz saw keeper Trapp unable to save with his foot with the ball diverted towards the far post where Boniface was able to nod the ball into the back of the net to give the Werkself a 2-1 lead.

Attacking efforts for the rest of the match came from the Werkself. With 89 minutes on the clock, Nathan Tella crossed from the left for Patrik Schick but the Czechia international was unable to properly connect with the ball. Wirtz had a chance on the break in added time (90+5') but no more goals were scored. The match ended in a 2-1 win for Bayer 04.

outlook: first Stade Brest then werder Bremen

The Werkself are next in action in the Champions League away to Stade Brest on Wednesday, 23 October with the kick-off at 18.45 CEST. That is followed by another away game on Bundesliga matchday eight at Werder Bremen on Saturday, 26 October (18.30 CEST).

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky - Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie - Frimpong (Tella 80'), Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo - Terrier (Wirtz 64'), Boniface (Schick 80'), Adli (Garcia 64')

Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp - Tuta (Skhiri 79'), Koch, Theate - Kristensen, Götze (Bahoya 70' ) , Larsson (Dahoud 79'), Nkounkou (Uzun 82') - Ebimbe (Chaibi 70'), Ekitiké, Marmoush

Goals: 0-1 Marmoush (16’ pen.), 1-1 Andrich (25’), 2-1 Boniface (72’)

Yellow cards: Grimaldo, Hincapie - Tuta

Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)

Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena