Impressive Werkself beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1

"We played really well and clearly deserved to win. We were better in all areas and more aggressive than the opponents because we broke down Frankfurt's strength and mentality," said a very satisfied Demirbay after the final whistle. And Jonathan Tah, who produced a faultless performance, was also happy: "The whole team played with lots of energy and we again and again organised ourselves well on the pitch. The crucial factor was that we accepted the challenge. Now we are aiming to win the last three games of the season."

Bayer 04 coach Hannes Wolf made four changes to his starting eleven compared with Tuesday’s game against Bayern Munich. Sven Bender, who missed out due to an ankle problem, Jeremie Frimpong (not in squad), Charles Aránguiz and Moussa Diaby (both on the bench) were replaced by Aleksandar Dragovic, Karim Bellarabi, Kerem Demirbay and Florian Wirtz. The Werkself, led out by Tah as the captain, played a 3-2-4-1 system against the second best team in the second half of the season. Tah played at the right side of defence instead of his usual central position to enable him to deal with Filip Kostic.

Impressive start with early chances

Bayer 04 made a bright start, were in the game straightaway and had chances to take an early lead. A shot from Patrik Schick was turned away by the Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp and a powerful follow-up shot from  Leon Bailey was turned round the post by the Eintracht goalkeeper with an outstanding reaction save (4’). At the other end, the visitors quickly showed their strength in attack when Erik Durm passed to Silva who put his shot just wide of the target (6'). Shortly after that, Schick set up Bellarabi who hit a low drive but Trapp was able to make a save with his foot (9'). It was an exciting encounter from the start.

Apart from the chance for Silva, Frankfurt were almost exclusively on the back foot in the opening 20 minutes as the confident Werkself played forward in a variety of ways. A set piece created the next opportunity for the hosts: A corner taken by Demirbay was headed high over the target by Edmond Tapsoba (28'). Lukas Hradecky had little difficulty in saving a shot from Durm from a tight angle (33'). Trapp was called into action again to parry a left-foot shot from Florian Wirtz (35'). And it was disappointing that Schick was unable to make the most of a promising counter-attack with superior numbers (40').

Three chances before the break

The focused Leverkusen team upped their game impressively just before the half-time break: An effort from Bailey was blocked, Trapp managed to turn away a Demirbay shot that was heading for the top corner and Exequiel Palacios fired a shot just over the bar (45'). Frankfurt could be happy that the scoreline was goalless at the break. After 45 minutes, Leverkusen had eleven shots on goal compared with 3 for Eintracht, and they also won 65 per cent of challenges. The team impressively implemented wishes of Hannes Wolf on the pitch ("We have to stand up and be counted in challenges").

Eintracht Frankfurt had the first goalscoring opportunity in the second half: Daichi Kamada turned a Silva cross from the right just wide of the upright from close range (47’). But the Werkself were equally determined to get forward: Bailey tried a solo run and turned Stefan Ilsanker inside out but his shot went just over the Frankfurt goal (52'). The Jamaican was centre stage again a minute later when he put in a brilliant ball from the left but Bellarabi failed to connect properly and his effort went past the post (53'). That was a really close call. At the other end, Hradecky failed to claim the ball from a corner, which led to confusion and a melee in the penalty area (58').

Bailey opens the scoring in style

Hannes Wolf made the first change bringing on Diaby in place of Bellarabi (61'). Wirtz made an impressive run from the halfway line but missed the right moment to shoot (62'). Shortly after that came the deserved lead for Bayer 04. Diaby hit a pass into the box from the right to the far post where Bailey smartly connected first time to put the ball through Trapp's legs and into the Frankfurt net to make it 1-0 (70') – his ninth goal of the season. Demirbay then put in a cross from the right but nobody was able to meet it (76').

Alario scores with neat finish

Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter reacted by making a triple substitution bringing on Luka Jovic, Amin Younes and Timothy Chandler for Aymen Barkok, Makoto Hasebe and Durm. For Bayer 04, Lucas Alario replaced Schick (76'). And the Argentinian was then involved in the build-up for the second goal as he scored to make it 2-0 (80'): Alario won the ball just outside his own penalty area, went on a long run before passing to Bailey who immediately laid the ball back to Alario and he skilfully lobbed it over Trapp into the net – goal number eleven this season for Alario. Nadiem Amiri and Wendell came on in place of Bailey and Wirtz who both had a really good game. An excellent shot from 20 yards out by Amiri was saved by Trapp (89') – the goalkeeper was clearly the best Frankfurt player at the BayArena.

There was plenty of action in added time. First, Silva scored his 25th goal of the season with a header (90+1'). Almost straight away, Demirbay hit a shot from outside the box and it was deflected in to restore the two-goal lead at 3-1 (90+2').

The Bundesliga takes a break next weekend as the DFB Cup semi-finals are being played before the final run-in the final three matchdays. Bayer 04 are next in action on Saturday, 8 May at 15.30 CEST with an away game at Werder Bremen.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky – Tah, Dragovic, Tapsoba – Palacios, Demirbay – Bellarabi (Diaby 61'), Wirtz (Wendell 85'), Bailey (Amiri 85'), Sinkgraven – Schick (Alario 76’)

Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp – Ilsanker (Tuta 83’), Hinteregger, Ndicka – Sow, Hasebe (Younes 76') – Durm (Chandler 76'), Kamada (Zuber 83’), Barkok (Jovic 76'), Kostic – Silva

Goals: 1-0 Bailey (70’), 2-0 Alario (80’), 2-1 Silva (90+1’), 3-1 Demirbay (90 +2’)

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Berlin)

Booked: Palacios – Ndicka