Kasper Hjulmand made five changes to the team that started last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Loïc Badé came in for Robert Andrich in central defence, while Lucas Vázquez started on the right wing for Arthur. Exequiel Palacios, Ibrahim Maza and Poku got the nod over Ezequiel Fernández, Jonas Hofmann and Malik Tillman.
The Werkself were lively from the start on Carnival weekend. Vázquez missed the target in the early minutes, but Quansah made the breakthrough as he met a Poku cross with the help of the crossbar and goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj’s back. Barely a minute later it was 2-0 as Schick got on the end of Vázquez’s cross to the far post with his head. Hjulmand’s men controlled proceedings up to half-time, with another Schick header after the half-hour mark the closest to another goal.
Leverkusen did get that third goal shortly after the restart with yet another header, this time from Tapsoba. The Werkself were able to move the ball around inside the St. Pauli half after that. Although no more notable headed opportunities followed, Poku did add a fourth as he fired in from just outside the box with 12 minutes to go on a cold afternoon at the BayArena, where Bayer 04 got their fourth straight win and also fourth clean sheet of 2026.
The Werkself are back in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday as they head to Piraeus in Greece for the first leg of their knockout play-off against Olympiacos (21:00 CET). They then face an away trip to the capital the following Saturday to take on Union Berlin in the Bundesliga (15:30).
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Blaswich - Quansah, Andrich, Tapsoba - Vázquez (Arthur 59'), Palacios (Terrier 80'), Garcia, Grimaldo (Hofmann 72') - Maza (Tillman 46'), Poku - Schick (Kofane 59')
St. Pauli: Vasilj - Dzwigala, Ando, Mets - Saliakas (Ritzka 82'), Sands (Fujita 68'), Irvine (Hara 68'), Pyrka -Sinani, Rasmussen - Kaars (Ceesay 82')
Goals: 1-0 Quansah (13'), 2-0 Schick (14'), 3-0 Tapsoba (52'), 4-0 Poku (78')
Yellow cards: Mets
Referee: Sven Jablonski
Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena
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