The Werkself were in the driving seat from the start and an Amine Adli cross evaded Victor Boniface after ten minutes. Bayer 04 continued to dominate possession, but the home side won the ball again and again and had the better chances. Benedikt Gimber hit the woodwork (26’) and Marvin Pieringer missed two opportunities (33’, 34’). Leverkusen struggled to find a way through the Heidenheim defence in the second half, but the home side also failed to threaten. Two subs relieved the Werkself minutes after coming on. Jonas Hofmann set up Emiliano Buendía, who scored the only goal from distance in added time (90’+1). CLICK HERE for the match report.
Head coach Xabi Alonso summed up the game as follows at the post-match press conference: “It was another match that was very emotional and hard-fought until the end. It wasn’t our best performance. We had the same problems as before, but it was important to celebrate a success again after Tuesday. We’re in an important phase of the season, so it wasn’t about the how today, it was about the what, and that’s what counts. It was a hard week for us, both mentally and physically. Now we have time to recover.”
Alonso praised match-winners Buendía and Hofmann: “Emi was always prepared. He’s shown great attitude in every training session, he deserved to play. Jonas was in a similar situation recently and did a very good job today. We need all our players to display this energy in the last six matches.”
Granit Xhaka commented: “It was the tough game we expected. It was physically and mentally hard for us after the recent defeat in Bielefeld, where we deserved to lose. You saw that, but it’s human that we need some more days to digest everything. We knew we had to win today to keep up with FC Bayern, which is why the match was a bit dour. But at the end of the day it’s the points that count in football.” The Swiss star added: “The subs definitely made the difference today, which shows how strong our squad is. Now we want to relax a little and recharge our batteries for the final spurt.”
The kicker headline read: “Buendía’s late shot shocks Heidenheim.” The Rheinische Post called it a “flattering 1-0 victory.” The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger said: “Leverkusen keep title race open: The Werkself maintained the six-point deficit despite a very poor performance,” adding in praise of Buendía: “Outstanding shot off the inside of the post.” The Bild-Zeitung agreed: “Despite poor performance in Heidenheim: LATERkusen avert knockout in title race.”
Buendía scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayer 04 in his seventh match. He is Leverkusen’s 17th different scorer this campaign, a joint league high with Eintracht Frankfurt. Robert Andrich made his 150th competitive appearance for Bayer 04 – congratulations!
Bayer 04 racked up six shots on goal to Heidenheim’s ten. The Werkself had 52 percent of the possession and won 50 percent of their tackles. They had a pass completion rate of 85.6 percent (Heidenheim: 80.1 percent).
Bayer 04 take on Union Berlin at the BayArena on Saturday, 12 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) before travelling to Hamburg to face St. Pauli on Sunday, 20 April (kick-off: 19:30 CEST).
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