Head coach Xabi Alonso made eight changes to his starting line-up compared with the 2-1 home win against SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga. Matej Kovar played in goal in place of Lukas Hradecky with Josip Stanisic, Piero Hincapie, Robert Andrich, Amine Adli, Nadiem Amiri, Nathan Tella and Adam Hlozek also starting.
The Werkself were on the front foot from the start in this DFB Pokal tie and the first big chance came after 40 seconds: From a cross from the left, Adli hit a volley goalwards at the far post but the SVS keeper Nikolai Rehnen was able to make the save. The hosts for their part were also brave – Abu-Bekir El-Zein hit a shot in the penalty area but it was blocked by the Leverkusen defence (4').
The Black and Reds then dominated possession in the following minutes. The best chance in this phase fell to Hlozek from an Amiri free kick: The Czech tried a long-range effort but his shot was tipped over the bar by the Sandhausen keeper (12'). There was danger again eight minutes later: Edmond Tapsoba put through Adli in a counter-attack and the winger was then fouled by Sandhausen player Alexander Fuchs. Referee Richard Hempel pointed to the spot and Exequiel Palacios stepped up to slot the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 1-0 (21').
The game settled down after the opening goal. The visitors continued to dominate proceedings through controlled build-up play allowing SVS little chance to express themselves. Hlozek had a shot from the left side of goal on 42 minutes but the ball flew past the target. The Werkself went into half-time with a deserved lead.
Leverkusen were initially on top after the restart but the hosts refused to give up and they were rewarded in their first attack in the second half: Franck Evina raced through the middle and set up Christoph Ehlich on the right and he hit the ball into the far corner to level at 1-1 (50’). There was a prompt response from the visitors: A free kick from Amiri on the left flank was met by Jonathan Tah and his header restored the lead (54’). However, Sandhausen scored next – also with a header: A corner from the left saw Yassin Ben Balla rise at the near post to head the ball in at the far post the equaliser at 2-2 (56').
With 63 minutes on the clock, Alonso brought a new impetus to the game by bringing on Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo - a quadruple substitution that paid off: First, Wirtz went close (70') then Adli just failed to connect with a Frimpong cross (77'). Hlozek finally restored the lead at 3-2 on 85 minutes with a tap-in following an Adli header. Adli then sealed progress to the DFB Pokal Round of 16: The 23-year-old first netted with a header from another Frimpong cross (87') and Adli rounded off the scoring at 5-2 in added time after some impressive work in the build-up from Wirtz (90+2').
The Werkself again head south in three days time: Leverkusen are away to TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday 4 November on Bundesliga matchday 10. The kick-off at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim is at 15.30 CET.
Match stats:
SV Sandhausen: Rehnen – Ehlich (Hennings 73’), Fuchs, Geschwill, Weik – Mühling, Ben Balla, Stolze (Burcu 84’), El-Zein, Evina (Maciejewski 66’) – Meier (Otto 73’)
Bayer 04: Kovar – Stanisic, Tah, Tapsoba (Kossounou 46’), Hincapie (Grimaldo 63’) – Andrich, Palacios (Xhaka 63’) – Adli, Amiri (Wirtz 63’), Tella (Frimpong 63’) – Hlozek
Goals: 0-1 Palacios (21’), 1-1 Ehlich (50’), 2-1 Tah (54’), 2-2 Ben Balla (56’), 3-2 Hlozek (85’), 4-2 Adli (87’), 5-2 Adli (90+2’)
Booked: Fuchs, Evina – Palacios, Grimaldo, Hlozek
Referee: Richard Hempel (Großnaundorf)
Attendance: 10,222 at the GP Stadium am Hardtwald
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