What the papers say on home win against FC Augsburg

The Sunday edition of the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger talks about a "hard-earned victory" and names Lucas Alario as the "man of the match": "After months of poor performances the central striker showed what he is about just two minutes after coming off the bench: a striker's instinct and assertiveness. He was in the right spot and didn't hesitate to convert the pass from from Lars Bender. He did not complain after the game: 'It's not important if I start or not. We haven't achieved our targets up to now and the only important thing is us winning.'"

The Sunday edition of the Express sees the 1-0 win for the Werkself against Augsburg as getting on board with the nine-point plan set out by Rudi Vüller: "Leverkusen's sporting MD Rudi Völler recently called for eight or nine points up to the winter break. And his Christmas wish could come true! The 1-0 win against Augsburg at least brings Bayer the first three points. Salvation came from the subs  bench: On 73 minutes, coach Heiko Herrlich brought on Lucas Alario. The Argentinian found the back of the net just 134 seconds later. His deflected shot was enough to secure a fifth win of the season for the Werkself. For Alario it was the first goal in eleven appearances."

BILD-plus comes to the following conclusion: "Leverkusen celebrate a deserved win as the Werkself beat FC Augsburg 1-0. Over the 90 minutes, Heiko Herrlich's controlled the game but mostly failed to breach the opposition defence. One of the few exceptions was promptly exploited as the sub Lucas Alario punished a lapse in concentration in the defence to make it 1-0. That appeared to have opened the game up but instead of a second goal for Leverkusen, the fans witnessed a fight back by the visitors. They were unlucky with their finishing so that the impressive record for Leverkusen against Augsburg is extended even further."

And the Kicker headline "Sub Alario wins it for Leverkusen“ sees the Argentinian the key player and Bayer 04 as the bogey team for Augsburg: "FC Augsburg still can't win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. After the 15th meeting of the two teams, Augsburg have yet to win as they suffer a 1-0 defeat on matchday 14. Bayer 04 are rewarded for a dominant 75 minutes with an immediate goal from substitute  Alario and were lucky that the visitors failed to convert a number of clear-cut chances in the closing stages of the match."

The report in the online edition of the Augsburger Allgemeine focuses on the number of chances for the away side: "The Werkself had to worry about holding on to their deserved victory at the end. The Herrlich team were the better side over the course of the game but were unable to convert that superiority into the overdue opener. That only changed when the Argentinian Lucas Alario was brought on in the second half. Augsburg then opened up and went on the attack and they could easily have equalised through Dong-Won Ji, Sergio Córdova and Rani Khedira."