Head coach Xabi Alonso made two changes to his team that started last week’s 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich. Frimpong and Patrik Schick were restored to the side in place of Edmond Tapsoba and Nathan Tella. Africa Cup of Nations winner Odilon Kossounou was among the subs for the first time this year, while Piero Hincapie made his 100th appearance for Bayer 04.
Leverkusen had the first attempt of the game at the Voith-Arena as Wirtz tested Kevin Müller before the visitors began to dominate play. Frimpong came close not long after but narrowly missed an Alejandro Grimaldo cross from the left.
The hosts were quick to close down space but had trouble picking up Wirtz, who dribbled past three red shirts on the touchline before seeing his attempted cutback intercepted. Wirtz then played in Schick, but he was crowded out by two Heidenheim defenders as he tried to burst into the penalty area. Kleindienst had the promoted side’s first shot of the afternoon after 36 minutes. With the game looking like being goalless at the break, Frimpong then popped up at the first post two minutes into added time to turn in Adli’s cross for the lead and his seventh goal of the campaign.
The Werkself continued on the front foot after the restart. Frimpong was again busy in attack and smashed an effort just over the bar from 20 yards. It was past the hour mark when Lukas Hradecky was called into action to deny Nikola Dovedan. Frimpong then came even closer to a second but flashed his shot only inches wide of the far post on the angle. Heidenheim started to find their groove and Hradecky was again forced to save from Benedikt Gimber. Borja Iglesias came on for Schick, but once more it was Frimpong involved up front. This time the Dutchman put a Grimaldo delivery into the stands.
Wirtz than rattled the Heidenheim crossbar with a thunderous effort after a one-two with Iglesias. But the second goal did finally come on 81 minutes when Wirtz slipped through Adli, who rounded Müller to make it 2-0. It wasn’t over there, though, as Kleindienst got one back with a header three minutes before the end. However, the Werkself saw out the game to move eight points clear at the top, at least overnight, and make it 32 matches unbeaten in 2023/24.
Bayer 04 are next in action on Friday, 23 February when Mainz visit the BayArena in the Bundesliga.
Match stats:
Heidenheim: Müller – Traoré, Mainka, Gimber (Pieringer 82'), Föhrenbach – Maloney, Schöppner (Sessa 63') – Dinkci (Busch 76'), Beck (Dovedan 46'), Beste (Pick 76') – Kleindienst
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Stanisic, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong (Tapsoba 89'), Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Adli (Tella 89'), Schick (Iglesias 74'), Wirtz (Hofmann 89')
Goals: 0-1 Frimpong (45'+2), 0-2 Adli (81'), 1-2 Kleindienst (87')
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hanover)
Yellow cards: Föhrenbach, Gimber – Andrich
Attendance: 15,000 at the Voith-Arena (sold out)
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
Show more
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
Show more
With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
Show more
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
Show more
