Head coach Xabi Alonso made one change to his line-up compared with the 8-0 win against FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen in the first round of the DFB Pokal: Jonathan Tah came into the starting eleven in place of the suspended Amine Adli and the personnel change brought about a reorganisation in defence from a back four to a back three. The focus in the opening minutes from a Werkself perspective was on their attacking game. Florian Wirtz and Co. moved the ball well with vocal support from a sell-out home crowd as they again and again advanced into the final third and when the opposition had the ball they were quick to challenge the visitors from Leipzig.
The first shot on goal from the Werkself came on eight minutes but Jonas Hofmann missed the target by three metres on his Bundesliga debut for Bayer 04. At the other end, skipper Lukas Hradecky held on to a long-range effort from Benjamin Henrichs (10'). Almost ten minutes later there was another effort from distance by Henrichs and this time Hradecky was called on to make a more impressive save for the first time. Jeremie Frimpong then succeeded where the former Bayer 04 player Henrichs was unable to: A move involving Leverkusen Bundesliga newcomers Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface ended with the ball in the six-yard box with Frimpong clinically despatching it for the openening goal (24').
With the one goal advantage, the Werkself increasingly forced their dominant style of play on the Saxons – and that was rewarded with Tah heading home from a Hofmann corner to make it 2-0 on 35 minutes. Leipzig's Dani Olmo pulled a goal back five minutes later to make it 2-1 also with a header from a corner. That was the scoreline at half-time. Wirtz had the first big chance of the second half but failed to score the third for the Werkself (48'). But this did come on 64 minutes: Frimpong hit the ball low from the right to the edge of the penalty area where the Germany international struck an impressive shot past RB keeper Janis Blaswich to make it 3-1.
Leipzig again succeeded in reducing the deficit, this time through Lois Openda. The RB new signing headed home from close range to make it 3-2 and the game opened up after that (71'). Openda missed another big chance three minutes later when he hit the post. The match remained exciting right to the end but the Werkself managed to retain the lead and secure three important points at the start of the new Bundesliga campaign.
Bayer 04 are next in action on Saturday 26 August in a clash at Borussia Mönchengladbach kicking off at 18.30 CEST. Alonso’s predecessor Gerardo Seoane took charge of the Foals at the start of the season.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba - Frimpong (Arthur 78'), Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo - Hofmann (Amiri 89’), Wirtz (Andrich 75’) - Boniface (Hlozek 89’)
Leipzig: Blaswich - Henrichs, Simakan, Orban, Raum - Seiwald (Lukeba 62’), Schlager (Carvalho 84’) - Simons (Kampl 62’), Olmo - Openda (Forsberg 75’), Werner (Poulsen 62’)
Goals: 1-0 Frimpong (24’), 2-0 Tah (35’), 2-1 Olmo (40’), 3-1 Wirtz (64’), 3-2 Openda (71’)
Booked: Boniface – Seiwald, Lukeba
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)
Attendance: 29,464 at the BayArena
With seven points, Mainz 05 are currently joint seventh, level on points with sixth-placed Bayer 04. In today’s head-to-head clash (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself must be particularly wary of the clinical Mainz strike duo. For Leverkusen fans who have left it to the last minute, there are still a few tickets available from the matchday ticket office. Those following the Black and Reds from home, on the other hand, have a choice: RTL is broadcasting the match on free-to-air TV, and Werkself Radio is also offering the expert commentary of former Bayer 04 player Falko Götz. Today’s matchday news.
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