Head coach Xabi Alonso made five changes to his starting XI compared with the 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich: Matej Kovar replaced Lukas Hradecky in goal on his debut for the Werkself. Also in the starting line-up were Josip Stanisic, Nathan Tella, Exequiel Palacios and Amine Adli. Like Kovar, Stanisic and Tella made their first starts for the Black and Reds. Bayer 04 started on the front foot and Adli found the first opening on three minutes: The winger pressed down the left flank to the byline and wanted to find Victor Boniface but he just failed to connect. Florian Wirtz made the most of the good start seven minutes later: Granit Xhaka put the ball through to the Werkself number ten and he lobbed the BKH keeper Peter Abrahamsson to make open the scoring.
Xhaka was alert again when he played the ball into the penalty area from the right for Adli to volley home to double the lead at 2-0. The Black and Reds continued to press with Adli (31') and Boniface (36’) looking to increase the lead. The latter did put the ball in the back of the net but he was narrowly offside. Wirtz had a another shot on target from distance (43’) but there were no more goals before half-time. The Werkself took a deserved two-goal advantage into the break.
Bayer 04 were equally ambitious after the restart with chances for Boniface and Alejandro Grimaldo before the match settled down in the following minutes. The visitors found their way into the game in this phase. Their best chance fell to Amir Layouni with the Tunisian putting his shot over the bar (57').
The Black and Red response to the chance for the Swedes followed on 66 minutes with the third goal scored by Boniface who put the ball through the legs of the Häcken keeper Abrahamsson. Substitute Jonas Hofmann produced a piece of magic four minutes later: After a move involving Hofmann plus Boniface and Wirtz, the Werkself number seven produced a cushioned volley to increase the lead to 4-0.
The next Bundesliga home game for the Werkself is against newly promoted FC Heidenheim at the BayArena on Sunday 24 September (kick-off: 15.30 CEST). The next home match in the UEFA Europa League is in a month’s time on Thursday 26 October (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) against the current champions of Azerbaijan Karabakh. Tickets are available HERE.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Kovar – Stanisic, Tah, Tapsoba (Hincapie 71’), Grimaldo – Tella (Hofmann 59’), Xhaka (Andrich 77’), Palacios, Wirtz (Frimpong 71’) – Boniface (Hlozek 71’), Adli
BK Häcken: Abrahamsson – Sandberg (Totland 75’), Ousou (Hammar 75’), Hovland, Fridriksson – Rygaard, Gustafson (Hrstic 71’), Amane (Dahbo 71’) – Chilufya (Sonko 71’), Gustafson, Layouni
Goals: 1-0 Wirtz (10’), 2-0 Adli (16’), 3-0 Boniface (66’), 4-0 Hofmann (70’)
Booked: Tapsoba
Referee: Manfredas Lukjanciukas (Lithuania)
Attendance: 25,402 at the BayArena
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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