What the papers say: 'Richly deserved happy ending'

The Welt am Sonntag sums it up succinctly: "They had to be patient but the efforts of Bayer Leverkusen were rewarded in the end" the report also mentions this incident: "The Werkself conceded a curious own goal shortly after the restart with Bielefeld not having one shot of their own on target."

The online edition of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger declares in its 'That was good' section: "The final flourish from Bayer 04 to somehow secure victory. Attractive football and technical finesse were no longer available as an option by the start of the second half of the latest. However, Leverkusen demonstrated battling qualities and plenty of morale. The fact three second choice players – Tah, Weiser and Dragovic – were involved in the production of the winner fitted in perfectly with the overall picture."

The final conclusion: "It is a good sign for Bayer 04 that they secured a win at Bielefeld despite losing half of their regular starting line-up and the unfortunate course of the game – even if the quality of Arminia is not exceptional. But the personnel issues will remain for Leverkusen for several months. The winning experience for the reserves could be as important as the three points gained at Bielefeld."

The Cologne-based Express headline reads "Happy ending after howler of the year" and, like all other media, looks at blooper made by Lukas Hradecky, whose curious own goal immediately after half-time produced the 1-1 scoreline: From a Daley Sinkgraven back pass, Hradecky wanted to kick the ball upfield but as he took aim the ball bobbled up from his standing leg and the Finn ended up slicing it into his own net. 1-1 - the Werkself were rattled. But there was a happy ending. Aleksandar Dragovic scored the winner at 2-1 on 88 minutes. Richly deserved as Bielefeld did not have a single shot on goal."

The online edition of the Rheinische Post describes the wonderfully worked opening goal from the Werkself: "The game initially plodded on with no real excitement. Goalmouth action was a rarity. Memories of the hard-fought 1-0 at Mainz a few weeks ago were brought to mind but then Julian Baumgartlinger played the ball to Leon Bailey and he broke into the Bielefeld penalty area after a one-two with Florian Wirtz to fire a powerful right foot shot into the top corner to give Leverkusen a 1-0 lead (27')."

The report in the RP also mentions first game of the season for Mitchell Weiser. On him they say: "Up to now, the full-back was completely out of the picture. He is not in the Werkself Europa League squad and would almost certainly not have played another game without the serious injury to Santiago Arias. He came on for Lars Bender and produced a decent performance given the fact he has been on the sidelines for so long. His shot parried by Stefan Ortega fell for Aleksandar Dragovic to score the winner on the rebound."

A first for the coach

Bild am Sonntag puts birthday boy Peter Bosz centre stage: "Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz celebrated his 57th birthday on the day of the match. The team presented him with a 2-1 win at Bielefeld, the fifth Bundesliga win on the bounce. Bosz has never achieved a run like that before – neither as a player or as a coach."

The online edition of the Kicker comes to the following conclusion: "For a long time it looked as if Arminia Bielefeld would again finally be able to get a result but then central defender Dragovic put a spoke in the East Westphalians' wheels. The Werkself dominated a game with few chances with Bielefeld not having one shot on target. But thanks to a curious own goal, the Neuhaus team were at least able to celebrate once."