Bosz made six changes to the side that beat Union Berlin 3-1 in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. From the starting eleven on Wednesday night, Jonathan Tah, Daley Sinkgraven, Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri, Leon Bailey and Lucas Alario dropped out. They were replaced by Mitchell Weiser, Wendell, Karim Bellarabi, Paulinho, Moussa Diaby and Julian Baumgartlinger. The latter was the captain against Eintracht.
The first chance of the game fell to the visitors: Baumgartlinger slipped on the edge of his own penalty area allowing the Eintracht striker Daichi Kamada to shoot; Bayer 04 goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was in the right spot to make the save (2'). The first chance at the other end brought an early lead for the Werkself: Diaby put in a low cross from the left for today's striker Kai Havertz to force the ball into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-0 (4'). And the hosts continued to be effective: After 14 minutes, Paulinho set up Bellarabi – with another cross from the left – to double the lead.
Just after the half-hour mark there was bad news for the Werkself: First choice central defender Sven Bender suffered a knee injury and had to go off with the support of the medics. He was replaced by Jonathan Tah (35'). The first Bayer 04 shot that didn't end up in the back of the Eintracht net came from Bellarabi shortly after that. The Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp was able to make the save (36'). The Black and Reds went into half-time with a deserved 2-0 lead.
Neither coach made any changes at half-time. The Bayer 04 fans were ready to celebrate the third goal two minutes after the restart – however Diaby, the provider for Havertz, was offside. The next move saw the Black and Reds supporters cheer the third goal of the day; Paulinho scored to make it 3-0 (48').
Eintracht then had their best chance of the game: Martin Hinteregger was unmarked from a free kick but his shot rebounded off Hradecky and the Austria international was unable to connect properly and put his effort wide of the target (54'). Paulinho went one better at the other end to double his tally with a second goal within six minutes to put the Werkself 4-0 up (55'). After that, the Werkself were less adventurous but continued to dominate the game.
A shot from Filip Kostic with 15 minutes to play was the only goal threat posed by the visitors after the Paulinho double. Evan Ndicka attempted to score with a header but again this effort went wide of the Bayer 04 keeper Hradecky's goal (80'). The Werkself remained in charge as they secured the 4-0 win – and that was rightly celebrated by the fans after the final whistle.
The Werkself are in action again on Thursday night in the Europa League in the fourth of five double fixture weeks in succession. Bayer 04 are away to Rangers in the first leg of the Round of 16. The kick-off at Ibrox is at 21.00 CET.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Weiser, S. Bender (Tah 35'), Tapsoba, Wendell – Baumgartlinger, Aránguiz (Palacios 67') – Bellarabi, Paulinho, Diaby – Havertz (Bailey 62')
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp – Toure, Ilsanker, Hinteregger, Ndicka – Kohr (Sow 57'), Hasebe, Rode – Kamada (Gacinovic 57'), Silva (Paciencia 74’), Kostic
Goals: 1-0 Havertz (4’), 2-0 Bellarabi (14’), 3-0, 4-0 Paulinho (48’, 55’)
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)
Booked: Weiser
Attendance: 30,210 (sold out)
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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