Werkself snatch 1-0 victory at Heidenheim

Head coach Xabi Alonso made three changes to the side that lost Tuesday’s DFB Cup final at Arminia Bielefeld as Victor Boniface, Aleix Garcia and Nathan Tella came in for Patrik Schick, Exequiel Palacios and Nordi Mukiele, with Robert Andrich dropping into the back three.

No real chances

Amine Adli created the first Leverkusen opportunity of note when he went past several defenders down the right and crossed for Boniface, who couldn’t quite make contact. At the other end, Heidenheim came close through Adrian Beck when his shot from left of goal went narrowly wide of the far post. Frans Krätzig also hit the side netting for the hosts, who did well to restrict the Werkself to very little going forward thanks to their pressing.

Frank Schmidt’s side very nearly went ahead following a corner when Benedikt Gimber’s shot from a tight angle came off the crossbar and also the far post before bouncing clear. Striker Marvin Pieringer had a couple of attempts in quick succession as Leverkusen were forced to ride out the first half.

Lack of flow before late blow

Things were similar after the restart as Alonso’s men struggled to find their groove going forward. However, Heidenheim also failed to threaten until Pieringer called Lukas Hradecky into action after the hour mark. The defending champions eventually managed to take control of proceedings and force the hosts back, but still chances were at a premium apart from a misplaced Schick header. However, Leverkusen would snatch all three points of a difficult game in the 91st minute when substitute Buendia fired in off the inside of the post from the edge of the box.

Union at home next

The result keeps the Bayer 04 within six points of Bayern Munich. Next up is a home game against Union Berlin at the BayArena on Saturday.

Match stats:

Heidenheim: Müller - Mainka (c), Gimber, Siersleben (Kerber 76’) - Traore, Busch (Scienza 56’), Schöppner (Niehues 90’+2), Krätzig - Dorsch (Conteh 76’), Beck (Schimmer 90’+2) - Pieringer 

Bayer 04: Hradecky - Tah, Andrich (Hofmann 85’), Hincapié – Frimpong, Xhaka, García, Grimaldo - Tella (Arthur 68’), Adli (Buendía 77’) - Boniface (Schick 68’)

Goals: 1-0 Buendia (90'+1)

Yellow cards: Schöppner 

Referee: Tobias Stieler

Attendance: 15,000 (sold out) at the Voith-Arena