Alario winner puts Werkself through to Round of 16

Frenetic opening stages recall Bundesliga opener

One dropped out, one came back: Three days after the intensive Saturday night game against Werder Bremen, Peter Bosz welcome back Kai Havertz after his absence due to illness and he replaced Kerem Demirbay in central midfield. In contrast, Sven Bender started on the bench following his ankle injury picked up at Bremen. Aleksandar Dragovic took his place in the back four.

Otherwise it was the same line-up as on Saturday and the Werkself carried on exactly where they left off against Bremen: with high-tempo football. A brilliant move involving Kai Havertz, Lucas Alario and Karim Bellarabi ended with Kevin Volland being foiled from close range thanks to a swift reaction save from the SCP keeper Jannick Huth (3').

The spectators at the BayArena, once again the venue for a cup tie after 18 months, were quickly reminded of the Bundesliga opener between these two teams as Paderborn refused to sit back and immediately endeavoured to get forward. The outcome: There was no checking each other out as the game developed into an end-to-end encounter in the opening minutes. Christopher Antwi-Adjei put a shot just wide of the Bayer 04 goal after a solo run on four minutes. Huth once again kept Volland out a minute later.

Alario gives Werkself the lead

After that, the game cooled down in keeping with the outdoor temperatures. Both teams tried to bypass the midfield but the next danger came from a Bellarabi volley that ended up in the arms of Huth (22'). Bayer 04 then upped their game and that quickly paid off. A cross from Mitchell Weiser was somewhat fortuitously flicked on by Bellarabi to Alario, who provided an impressive demonstration of his striking qualities, taking the ball down before firing it into the right corner of the net (25'). A great finish – even though the Argentinian striker was probably just offside.

Lars Bender off – Retsos celebrates comeback

That good news was then followed by bad tidings: The skipper Lars Bender had to go off on the half-hour mark due to injury with Panagiotis Retsos celebrating his comeback. After eleven months with numerous injuries and no appearances, the Greek was finally back on the pitch and he produced a perfect performance in the back for. Welcome back, Panos!

Even without their captain, the Werkself remained on the front foot and could have celebrated magical goal. At the end of a one-touch move, Nadiem Amiri lobbed the ball into the box and Alario headed the ball on into the path of Havertz. The Germany international tried a chip but was unable to beat the alert Huth (39'). The move could certainly of deserved a goal. The final opportunity of the half was made by the visitors: Cauly Oliveira Souza missed the target at the end of a counter-attack (40').

Alario misses – Paderborn improve

The first chance after the restart fell to the Werkself. A great move involving Havertz and Bellarabi ended with Luca Kilian making a decisive intervention to ensure that Alario was unable to control his shot on goal (47').

Bayer 04 continued to dominate proceedings but, at times, proved too casual in the final third: A promising counter-attack with men over was not completed and the bustling Bellarabi put his shot wide of the target (56'). The East Westphalians continued to pursue their approach the game, defended high again and were able to pose a threat to their quick attackers: A long-range effort from Antwi-Adjei was deflected and flew just over the Leverkusen net (57'), Amiri intervened are just the right time to keep out a dangerous shot from Oliveira Souza (68'), and, shortly after that, he tested Lukas Hradecky with a long-range effort just after that (73').

Hradecky secures Round of 16 berth

The visitors became more forceful as the game went on and they looked for an equaliser in the closing stages. Hradecky first kept out substitute Gerrit Holtmann (70') and he went on to demonstrate his quality seconds later. A fast Paderborn attack ended up with Streli Mamba through in a one-on-one with the Finn in the Werkself goal. He made himself big and kept out the shot with his foot (80'). An excellent save by the keeper who also kept out Abdelhamid Sabiri on 88 minutes to secure progress to the Round of 16 (4 and 5 February 2020). The draw to determine the opponents for Bayer 04 will be made on Sunday 3 November. Before that, the Werkself entertain Bundesliga league leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky – L. Bender (Retsos 31’), Tah, Dragovic – Baumgartlinger – Bellarabi, Havertz, Amiri (Demirbay 71’), Weiser- Alario, Volland (Paulinho 82’)

SC Paderborn 07: Huth - Jans (Shelton 87’), Kilian, Schonlau, Collins - Gjasula (Zolinski 76’) - Pröger (Holtmann 66’), Sabiri - Oliveira Souza, Antwi-Adjei - Mamba

Goals: 1-0 Alario (25’)

Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)

Booked: Weiser - Gjasula

Attendance: 14,000