Ten-man Werkself lose 2-1 to FC Ingolstadt

Following the last-minute win against FC Schalke, Roger Schmidt made five changes to his starting eleven: Danny da Costa, Tin Jedvaj and Aleksandar Dragovic played in the back four and Kevin Kampl and Admir Mehmedi returned against Ingolstadt. In addition to the long-term absentees, Schmidt also had to make do without Stefan Kießling (muscle problem) and Benjamin Henrichs.

The Werkself found it hard going against a lively Ingolstadt side and difficult to get into the game. The next-to-bottom team, who scored a surprise 1-0 victory against Leipzig last weekend to knock them off top spot, fought hard and created chances. On 15 minutes, Ingolstadt’s Pascal Groß hit a free kick to the near post and the Bayer 04 keeper Bernd Leno was able to save the shot with his arm. Shortly after that, Roger – also from a free kick – hit the outside of the net (18’). The visitors were rewarded for their commitment on 26 minutes: A cross from Markus Suttner found Alfredo Morales and he powered a header onto the back of the Bayer 04 goal. The visitors took the 1-0 lead into the break.

Charles Aránguiz sees red

Schmidt took off da Costa and Julian Baumgartlinger at half-time bringing on Wendell and Julian Brandt in their place. However, the spotlight fell on another player: Charles Aránguiz was shown a second yellow card four minutes into the second half. Already on a yellow card, the Chilean was involved in a tussle with Ingolstadt’s Anthony Jung and referee Frank Willenborg deemed it to be a foul worthy of a second booking. The Werkself refused to give up and Brandt had a chance to level. The FCI keeper Martin Hansen Schuss kept out his shot from a tight angle with his foot on 53 minutes.

The visitors hit straight back and almost doubled their lead. Leno made a smart save to keep out a well-placed header from Marcel Tisserand. The Werkself were lucky on the hour mark when a shot from Almog Cohen went over the bar but they immediately countered to get back into the game. Brandt beat Roger to the ball and his cross into the centre of the box was turned into the net by Mehmedi to make it 1-1 on 63 minutes.

Almog Cohen nets winner

Despite conceding, Ingolstadt continued to press forward. With 73 minutes on the clock, Groß put his team-mate Cohen through and the Israel international left Leno stranded as he tucked the ball away from 12 yards out to restore the lead for the visitors. The Werkself endeavoured to get back on terms but were unable to pose any serious threat. The same did not apply to FCI: The attacks from Bayer 04 opened up space for the visitors to counter attack. Substitute Sonny Kittel had chances to make it 3-1 but the impressive Leno kept him out on 85 and 90 minutes. The game ended in a 2-1 defeat for Bayer 04, the seventh this term.

Ahead of the last game of the year in the derby at FC Köln (Wednesday, 20.00 CET), Schmidt and his team are ninth in the table on 20 points.

Match stats

Bayer 04: Leno – da Costa (Wendell 46’), Tah, Dragovic, Jedvaj (Havertz 82’) – Baumgartlinger (Brandt 46’), Aránguiz – Kampl, Calhanoglu – Chicharito, Mehmedi

FC Ingolstadt: Hansen – Matip, Roger, Tisserand – Cohen, Morales – Hadergjonaj, Groß (Kittel 75’), Suttner, Jung (Levels 91’) – Lezcano (Hinterseer 75’)

Goals: 0-1 Morales (26’), 1-1 Mehmedi (63’), 1-2 Cohen (73’)

Booked: Jedvaj – Tisserand, Matip

Sent off: Aránguiz (49’)

Referee: Frank Willenborg (Osnabrück)

Attendance: 25,075