4-1 against Beer Sheva – Werkself on course for knockout rounds

Head coach Peter Bosz made six changes to his starting line-up compared with the 2-1 away win at Arminia Bielefeld: The back four was made up of Aleksandar Dragovic, Tin Jedvaj and Wendell alongside the captain Jonathan Tah. Also back in the starting eleven were Kerem Demirbay, Patrik Schick, with his first start after several weeks out injured, and Karim Bellarabi. The latter was able to play after a successful appeal by Bayer 04 to the UEFA disciplinary committee that saw his ban reduced from two games to one.

The visitors from Israel had to manage without three of their best players at the BayArena: In addition to playmaker Josué, who head coach Yossi Abukasis left at home due to poor behaviour in training, Elton Acolatse was also absent. The Dutchman scored both goals for Be'er Sheva in the 4-2 home defeat to the Werkself. Also missing was Miguel Vitor; the captain was sidelined through injury.

One minute's silence in memory of Maradona

It was very emotional before the start of the game at the BayArena: The Werkself's Argentinian player Lucas Alario warmed up in a Diego Maradona shirt. The Argentinian footballing legend passed away on Wednesday at the age of 60. Ahead of kick-off, there was one minute's silence in memory of the former Napoli player. Shortly after that came the start of the fourth Europa League fixture of the season. The Israelis disrupted the hosts build-up play from the halfway line and played defensively with a back five. The first attempt on goal came from a header by Leon Bailey, who started on the left flank this time. However, the Jamaican failed to connect properly with the cross from Bellarabi (7').

The Werkself were in control of the game and the ball and, in the opening 15 minutes, primarily tried to attack down the right flank through Bellarabi and Dragovic. But it was difficult to find a way through the middle. But the visitors' goal was rattled on 23 minutes: Bailey raced through with the ball from the left into the penalty area and, with the help of the opposition, the ball ended up with Demirbay who rounded a Hapoel player – but his effort from ten metres out hit the inside of the left upright.

Schick scores with his belly

The Werkself finally broke through on the half-hour mark. From a corner taken by Nadiem Amiri, Jedvaj headed the ball on and it landed on the incoming Schick put the ball in the back of the net with his belly to make it 1-0 (29'). And just nine minutes later, the same combination was almost successful again: Another Amiri corner from the right was headed by the goalscorer Schick but his effort went inches wide of the left-hand post (38'). The half-time score was 1-0 to the Werkself with the first 45 minutes bringing over 80% possession.

The two teams came out for the second half unchanged and once again it was the hosts who made the better start. With just three minutes gone, Wendell found Bailey unmarked. The Jamaican set himself up with a great first contact and, on his own in front of the Hapoel keeper Ohad Levita, he doubled the lead at 2-0 (48'). However, Leverkusen unnecessarily allowed Be'er Sheva to pull a goal back: Ten minutes after the second goal, Jedvaj wanted to play a square ball to Tah. The Hapoel striker Itamar Shrivo intercepted to slot the ball into the empty net.

Brace seals victory

Boosted by the goal, the confidence of the Israelis increased. Werkself head coach Bosz intervened from the touchline, bringing on Alario and Moussa Diaby for the goalscorers Schick and Bailey on 68 minutes. After the double substitution, the Werkself were on top again and camped in the opposition half. And next: Demirbay put the ball in the back of the net to make it 3-1 (76'). Substitute Alario sealed the win four minutes later. And the Europa League night at the BayArena was rounded off by the debut appearance in the first team for 17-year-old youth striker Emrehan Gedikli.

The Werkself now have nine points in the Europa League. Following the Bundesliga home game against Hertha Berlin on Sunday 29 November (kick-off: 15.30 CT), the Black and Reds play Nice next week with the chance of securing progress to the knockout rounds. The kick off on the Côte d'Azur is at 21.00 CET.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky – Dragovic, Tah, Jedvaj, Wendell – Amiri (Baumgartlinger 90+ 1'), Demirbay – Bellarabi (Gedikli 80’), Wirtz (Sinkgraven 80’), Bailey (Diaby 68') – Schick (Alario 68')

Beer Sheva: Levita – Dadia, Bareiro, Taha, Kabha, Goldberg (Twito 69') – Sallalich (Agudelo 69', Varenne 85'), Meli (Madmon 81'), Keltjens, Yosefi – Shviro (Hatuel 81')

Goals: 1-0 Schick (29’), 2-0 Bailey (48’), 2-1 Shviro (58’), 3-1 Demirbay (76’), 4-1 Alario (80’)

Booked: Shviro, Taha

Referee: Pawel Gil (Poland)