Schick fires Werkself to 2-1 derby win in Cologne

Head coach Kasper Hjulmand made two alterations to the side that started in the midweek defeat against FC Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal semi-finals. Janis Blaswich replaced Mark Flekken (muscular problem) in goal, while Montrell Culbreath was preferred to Lucas Vázquez on the right flank.

Schick hits the post, then the net

Köln made the livelier start and had early opportunities through Said El Mala and Jakub Kaminski inside the opening four minutes, before Patrik Schick hit the post in the 14th minute with the Werkself’s best chance up to that point. Bayer 04 had got into this derby now and had two third of the possession at times, with Jarell Quansah forcing a save from goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe after making a late run to meet Culbreath’s cross (16’). Following a quieter quarter of an hour, Blaswich made a good save from Eric Martel’s effort (29’). Like Schick, El Mala then struck the woodwork in the 35th minute. With the first fans already leaving their seats for the half-time break, referee Robert Hartmann awarded Leverkusen a penalty for a handball by Martel. Schick made no mistake from the spot to net his fifth goal in as many Bundesliga games, leaving the score at 1-0 at the break.

Schick with second - Arthur and Ben Seghir return

Jakub Kaminski squandered a good chance for the Billy Goats early in the second half (51'), and they were left ruing that just a minute later, when Schick converted Nathan Tella's cross to make it 2-0 to the Werkself. Bayer 04 now looked to protect their lead and circulate the ball. With around 20 minutes left, Arthur and Eliesse Ben Seghir made welcome comebacks from the bench, coming on together with Ezequiel Fernández. The visitors appeared to have everything under control, but Luca Waldschmidt got Köln back into the game almost out of nothing in the 78th minute. The hosts pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages but couldn't prevent a fifth straight win for Leverkusen in the derby!

coming up: crucial clashes with Leipzig and Stuttgart

The Werkself now have two big games coming up in the battle for Champions League qualification. First RB Leipzig visit the BayArena on Saturday 2 May (kick-off 18:30 CEST) in the penultimate home match of the season, before a trip to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday 9 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST. Bayer 04 end the season at home to Hamburger SV on Saturday 16 May (15:30 CEST).

Match stats:

Köln: Schwäbe - Sebulonsen, Simpson-Pusey, Özkacar - Maina (Castro-Montes 59'), Jóhannesson (Waldschmidt 72'), Martel (Niang 85'), Lund (Chávez 72') - Kaminski - Bülter (Thielmann 59'), El Mala

Bayer 04: Blaswich - Quansah (Badé 85'), Andrich, Tapsoba - Culbreath (Arthur 72'), Palacios, Garcia (Fernández 72'), Grimaldo - Maza (Tillman 61'), Tella (Ben Seghir 72') - Schick

Goals: 0-1 Schick (43' pen), 0-2 Schick (52'), 1-2 Waldschmidt (78')

Yellow cards: Jóhannesson / Tapsoba, Blaswich

Referee: Robert Hartmann (Wangen im Allgäu)

Attendance: 50,000 (sold out) at the RheinEnergieSTADION