Manneh seals defeat for the Werkself

The Leverkusen coach made two changes to the side that started the 2-0 home win against Borussia Dortmund: Wendell replaced Lars Bender in the back four and Kevin Volland was preferred up front to Admir Mehmedi. While the captain returned home due to a bout of flu the Swiss striker took his place on the bench.

The Werkself struggle at start

Werder Bremen made the better start to the match. The North German team exerted pressure on the Werkself defence from the opening minute. In particular, their pacey wingers Serge Gnabry and Izet Hajrovic, stood out for Bremen. As in the 13th minute when Hajrovic broke down the right flank, cut in towards the box and picked out the unmarked Ousman Manneh. Although Bernd Leno succeeded in saving the shot from the Gambian, the rebound fell to Zlatko Junovic and he left the Bayer 04 keeper helpless as his shot from eight yards out gave the hosts a one-nil lead.

It lasted a while before the Werkself could completely recover their composure. But after 20 minutes Schmidt's team clearly had the upper hand in front of a capacity crowd at the Weser Stadium in Bremen. The visitors efforts were rewarded on 27 minutes when Kevin Kampl passed from the right byline for Hakan Calhanoglu to head home a deserved equaliser into the far corner of the net from the penalty spot.

The Werkself continue to press. Chicharito missed the chance to make it 2-1 just two minutes later – his delicate lob over the Bremen keeper Felix Wiedwald landed just the wrong side of the right-hand post. Up to half-time, Schmidt's team played good passing football and kept the tempo up to pin back the opposition in their own half. However, Leverkusen were unable to really threaten Wiedwald's goal.

Few chances after the break

After the restart both teams set out to take the lead. But many misplaced passes on both sides prevented any flowing moves and the Werkself were not able to make the most of their chances on the break. Bremen went one better just before the hour mark: Hajrovic played a low free-kick on the right-hand side to Junuzovic who rather fortuitously picked out Manneh just inside the box. The Werder striker was first the ball and his shot found the back of the net to give the hosts a surprise 2-1 lead.

Bayer 04 endeavoured to get back on terms but they found it hard against a battling Werder team. In addition to a lack of action to the final ball the Bremen back four remain solid and luck was not on the side of the Werkself. There were few chances. Probably the best opportunity of an equaliser fell to Julian Brandt on 65 minutes but Bremen's Theodor Gebre Selassie blocked his effort in the Werder box.

Alexander Nouri's team continued to defend with passion and they gave little away to the committed yet ultimately unsuccessful Bayer 04 side. The ball finally hit the back of the Bremen net on 78 minutes but the strike was ruled out for offside. Substitute Admir Mehmedi was two yards offside when he received a pass from fellow substitute Stefan Kießling. There was little action after that and the game ended with a disappointing 2-1 defeat - that meant it was not be a winning Bundesliga debut for the other Bayer 04 substitute Kai Havertz.

Leverkusen are still on ten points after seven games in the Bundesliga. The next match on Tuesday (20.45 CET) is a Champions League group match at home to Tottenham Hotspur. That is followed by a home game against TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday 22 October (15.30 CET).

Match stats

Werder Bremen: Wiedwald - Gebre Selassi, L. Sané, N. Moisander, S. Garcia - Grillitsch - Fritz (U. Garcia 68’) , Junuzovic - Hajrovic (R. Bauer 83’), Gnabry (Bartels 45’) - Manneh.

Bayer 04: Leno - Henrichs, Tah, Toprak, Wendell - Aránguiz (Havertz 83’), Kampl - Brandt (Kießling 72’), Calhanoglu - Chicharito, Volland ( Mehmedi 57’).

Goals: 1-0 Junuzovic (13’), 1-1 Calhanoglu (27’), 2-1 Manneh (59’).

Booked: Hajrovic, Manneh / Aránguiz, Wendell.

Referee: Marco Fritz (Korb).

Attendance: 41,000 (capacity crowd)