Werkself review #B04VfB: Spectacular cup tie with emotional finale

Summary: Two comebacks and the crowning moment

Starting with goalkeeper Matej Kova and Edmond Tapsoba back from AFCON, the Werkself pressed the visitors from the kick-off but went behind early on to a header from Waldemar Anton who opened the scoring on eleven minutes. It then took Leverkusen a long time to create clear chances. Those that did come before half-time were not converted. But what the Black and Reds were unable to do before the break worked almost immediately after the restart: Robert Andrich fired an impressive long-range effort into the top corner (49'). VfB did retake the lead through Chris Führich (58’) but the Werkself again produced the right response and levelled at 2-2 on 67 minutes with a goal scored by Amine Adli just after he came off the bench. It looked like the game was heading for extra time but captain  Jonathan Tah prevented that with a headed goal on 90 minutes at 3-2 – and that drew an ecstatic response from the BayArena crowd. The match report.

Reaction: "Won with heart and soul"

Head coach Xabi Alonso praised VfB at the post-match press conference talking about the "best opponent at the BayArena so far this season." On his own team's performance, the Spaniard said: "We gave our best and won with heart and soul in the end. We are now in the semi-finals – and we can enjoy that a bit. But only a bit." Amine Adli, goalscorer on his return from AFCON, added after his fourth goal in the 2023/24 DFB-Pokal: "We deserved the goal and the win. We were the better team overall."

Robert Andrich said about his strike to level at 1-1: I knew it would be a great goal as soon as the ball left my foot – it was unstoppable. Overall, I'm proud of the team. We always believed in ourselves, we definitely wanted this win!" In response to questions on the improved chances of winning the DFB-Pokal, Andrich declared: "We’re through to the next round, obviously we are closer than we were before. We want to get to Berlin and win the trophy. But our focus is always on the next challenge. And that's on Saturday against Bayern. Of course, this result gives a boost for that game. We are looking forward to another brilliant night!"

What the papers say: "A spectacular game waiting to happen"

The Rheinische Post reported a "spectacular game waiting to happen" as well as a "thrilling quarter-final" and they awarded top marks to Florian Wirtz for his performance. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger talked about a "last-minute win" for the Werkself. The Süddeutsche Zeitung headline, in reference to the late goal from Tah, reads "Whoops of joy in the night."

The Bild Zeitung called the Werkself "the team of the hour and the last minute" and Summed up the events in the second half as follows: "Bayer created more pressure after half-time, hit back early with the equaliser and wrested the momentum from the Swabians. The second half developed into an end-to-end encounter with both teams creating their chances."

Personnel: Adli on top - Werkself fight to the end

Amine Adli is equal top goalscorer in the 2023/24 DFB-Pokal with his goal against VfB Stuttgart. It was his fourth strike in the current competition and three other players from knocked-out clubs also have the same number. The assist for Adli came from Florian Wirtz who also set up the winner for Jonathan Tah at 3-2. Those were assists number two and three for the Germany international – more than any other Leverkusen player in the cup competition so far.

Remarkable and notable is also the fact that the Werkself have secured victory with late goals in three out of the five matches in 2024. That was the case in Augsburg (1-0) and Leipzig (3-2). This stamina and the absolute determination to fight to the last minute was fully enjoyed and celebrated by the fans after the game with the injured players Arthur, Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface joining their teammates on the pitch.

Stats: On target in the Pokal

Bayer 04 have scored at least one goal in all of the prvious 29 DFB-Pokal ties clocking up an impressive 88 goals. In addition, the Werkself extended their successful run against VfB in this competition: The fourth meeting with Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal – all matches played at the BayArena – produced the fourth win.

The match stats were mainly evenly balanced: The Werkself had 56% possession and won 40% of duels. The Black and Reds were ahead in shots on goal with 16 to 11. And in pass completion (87% to 84%).

Outlook: First against second at the BayArena

The forthcoming carnival weekend includes the Bundesliga top match: The league leaders from Leverkusen entertain Bayern Munich who have two points less than the Werkself. The kick-off on Saturday 10 February is at 18.30 CET.