Head coach Kasper Hjulmand made four changes to the team that started Tuesday’s 3-0 win over St. Pauli in the DFB Pokal as Loïc Badé, Arthur, Ezequiel Fernández and Jonas Hofmann replaced Robert Andrich, Lucas Vázquez, Exequiel Palacios and Martin Terrier.
After a quiet opening 10 minutes, Gladbach went ahead by pouncing on a pass out from Janis Blaswich to Aleix García. The goalkeeper was able to save Haris Tabakovic’s initial effort but couldn’t keep out Engelhardt’s rebound. The Werkself had dominated early proceedings, reaching 70 percent possession at one stage, but the Foals were able to keep the visitors at arm’s length. With few chances following, it looked like staying at 1-0 going into half-time until García’s long-range effort took a deflection off Sander and into the back of the net to grab a Leverkusen equaliser just before the break.
Hjulmand introduced Ernest Poku for Badé at half-time as he looked for greater attacking intent and tempo. His side started lively before things petered out. Most of the action occurred in the middle of the pitch, including a few flashpoints between players, before Alejandro Grimaldo tested Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas in the 76th minute. However, there were no more goals as it finished 1-1 at Borussia-Park.
The Werkself have a rare full week to prepare for their next game at home to St. Pauli on Saturday (15:30 CET) for Carnival weekend. They then head to Greece for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout play-offs against Olympiacos.
Match stats:
Gladbach: Nicolas - Castrop (Scally 78'), Sander, Elvedi, Diks, Ullrich (Chiarodia 88') - Reitz, Engelhardt, Stöger (Bolin 78') - Honorat (Machino 88'), Tabakovic (Sarco 68')
Bayer 04: Blaswich - Quansah, Badé (Poku 46'), Tapsoba - Arthur, Fernández (Palacios 65'), Garcia (Andrich 88'), Grimaldo - Hofmann (Terrier 80'), Tillman - Schick (Kofane 80')
Goals: 1-0 Engelhardt (10'), 1-1 Sander (og, 45')
Yellow cards: Diks, Stöger, Polanski (coach) - Palacios, Terrier, Schick, Hjulmand (coach)
Referee: Christian Dingert
Attendance: 47,599 at Borussia-Park
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