Werkself level late in 2-2 draw with Newcastle United

Compared with the 2-0 defeat against FC Augsburg, head coach Kasper Hjulmand made three changes to his starting line-up: Jarell Quansah started in central defence in place of Loïc Badé , while Alejandro Grimaldo and Arthur came in for Martin Terrier and Jonas Hofmann, who are not in the UCL squad. Hjulmand was not in the dugout for personal reasons and he was replaced by assistant coach Rogier Meijer.

Andrich rewards focussed Werkself

Bayer 04 initially let the Magpies have the ball and favoured compactness and quick counter-attacks, which was achieved via midfielders Malik Tillman and Ibrahim Maza on one or two occasions. Even though scoring chances were few and far between, the Black and Reds gained control of the game from minute to minute - and struck a blow to the English heart with their first chance: A long corner reached captain Robert Andrich at the far post. He headed the ball into the back of Newcastle's Guimaraes and it rebounded into the net (13'). Even after taking the lead, the Werkself remained determined and played high tempo transitions. Tillman set up Patrik Schick who was fouled by Malick Thiaw just outside the penalty area (20’). Although the visiting defender was actually the last man, he was only shown a yellow card. Grimaldo put the resulting free-kick over the bar. Maza (28’) and Ernest Poku (45+1’) had further chances. Before that, the Magpies also had a good chance after Aleix Garcia deflected a cross. However, Mark Flekken cleared the ball. The two sides went into the half-time break with the scoreline at 1-0.

Grimaldo levels late on

A controlled restart by the Werkself was cancelled out by a dubious refereeing decision. Nick Woltemade went down after a slight touch in a duel with Flekken. Without looking at the monitor himself, the referee stood by his penalty decision and Anthony Gordon converted to equalise (51'). Twelve minutes later, the Werkself were lucky when Gordon hit the post. As were the visitors with Poku's effort after a great run (69'). The next setback for the Black and Reds came on 74 minutes: a Gordon cross found substitute Lewis Miley, who headed in to give the Magpies the lead. The game then picked up again: Flekken made a brilliant save at one end (80') and, at the other, Ramsdale had to keep out a Tella shot (82'). The Werkself did not give up and penned Newcastle in their penalty area - and scored! Naturally, Grimaldo latched onto a Maza pass and netted a much-acclaimed equaliser (88'). The Werkself, who continued to press, were unable to score again and the game ended 2-2 after four minutes of stoppage time.

coming up: fc Köln then RB Leipzig

Before the winter break, the Werkself still have two more difficult fixtures: The Black and Reds first host FC Köln at the BayArena on Saturday, 13 December at 18:30 CET, before the last match before Christmas a week later on Saturday, 20 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET) at second-placed RB Leipzig.

Bayer 04: Flekken - Quansah, Andrich, Tapsoba - Arthur (Badé 90’), Maza, Garcia, Grimaldo - Tillman (Echeverri 87’), Poku (Tella 71’) - Schick (Kofane 46’)

Newcastle United: Ramsdale - Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall - Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton (Miley 60’) - Barnes ( J. Murphy 78’), Woltemade (Wissa 90+3’), Gordon (Ramsey 90+3’)

Goals: 1-0 Guimaraes (o.g. 13’), 1-1 Gordon (pen. 51’), 1-2 Miley (74’), 2-2 Grimaldo (88’)

Yellow cards: Poku, Garcia - Thiaw, Ramsdale

Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena