It was a sobering experience at the London Stadium on Sunday: In a 2-0 (1-0) defeat in front of 62,459 spectators, Fulham, who are 12th in the table, took the lead in the derby after just nine minutes through Andreas Pereira. The Brazilian's second goal in the 72nd minute put the lid on things for the visitors, who had former and long-serving Bayer 04 goalkeeper Bernd Leno between the posts. Leno, who made 304 competitive appearances for the Werkself between 2011 and 2018, thwarted several good chances for the visitors.
Hammers boss David Moyes made three changes to his side from the 2-0 defeat at Bayer 04: Edson Alvarez, Nayef Aguerd and Danny Ings came into the starting XI in place of Tomas Soucek, Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell. "I felt we started the game relatively well, created chances but just couldn't capitalise on those moments," said Moyes. "That's why I'm really disappointed. We probably had more possession than in many other games this season, but we didn't manage to make the most of it. And we were susceptible to the opposition's counter-attacks today."
The best chances for the Hammers were missed by centre-forward Michail Antonio, Vladimir Coufal, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paquetá. The latter will miss his side's quarter-final second leg against the Werkself, having been yellow-carded in the 2-0 defeat at the BayArena after a bad tackle on Amine Adli and is therefore suspended for this Thursday’s game.
Just before the final whistle of the London derby, there was a scare for the Hammers when youngster George Earthy picked up an injury. The talented U21 player was making his Premier League debut for the side, but suffered a serious head injury just minutes after coming off the bench in the closing stages following a collision with teammate Edson Alvarez. Earthy lost consciousness and had to be treated on the pitch for several minutes. He was then taken to hospital but released on Monday. It remains to be seen when he’ll be able to return to the team.
The Matchday 33 defeat meant West Ham missed out on a return to the top six in the Premier League. However, as eighth in the table, they’re just two points behind seventh-placed Manchester United and sixth-placed Newcastle United. After the derby loss to Fulham, Moyes was quick to look ahead to the UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg. "We'll be focused as we prepare for the game on Thursday evening and hopefully we can give the right response and take the opportunity to get revenge against Bayer 04."
In the first leg in Leverkusen, the Hammers were able to keep the score level for a long period by plaing very defensively. It was only with late goals from Jonas Hofmann (83’) and Victor Boniface (90’+1) that the Werkself were able to break down the defence of the Londoners, who played with a five-man back line. And for their part, they only had one real chance to score in the entire match. "It's obviously a very disappointing result because we kept them at bay for so long," said goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. The Pole was his team's best player in the first leg and foiled several good chances from Leverkusen. "Conceding two goals so late on is hard to take. We were under a lot of pressure, but we defended well for a long time. If it had ended 1-0, we would have felt better. But it is what it is and we'll do everything we can to turn the tide." The 38-year-old Fabianski is now relying on his team's home strength. "We have a good record when we play at home in European competitions, so let's see what happens." Of course, the goalkeeper is thinking not least of the second leg of the round of 16 tie against SC Freiburg, which West Ham won 5-0 after going down to a 1-0 defeat in Breisgau.
Winger Jarrod Bowen will in all likelihood still not be available against the Werkself. The 28-year-old, who missed out on last week's game in Leverkusen due to a back injury, also didn’t make the squad for the Fulham game. It remains to be seen when he will be ready for action again.
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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