Werkself win again with 4-0 victory over Real Betis

Head coach Gerardo Seoane made three changes to his starting eleven from the 2-0 defeat against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga: Robert Andrich, Moussa Diaby and Paulinho started in place of Mitchel Bakker (ankle injury), Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (both on the bench).

"Everyone knows what’s happened in recent weeks," said Andrich ahead of the match and added: "We are now even more focused on working, above all, on the basics." The midfielder was true to his words as the Werkself were alert from the start, very compact in defence and succeeded in frustrating the visitors. The first promising signs up front came from Paulinho (7'), Florian Wirtz (8') and Diaby (13') but their finishing lacked accuracy

Bartra clears off the line – Frimpong goal chalked off

Amine Adli went one better: After Andrich played the ball through, the Frenchman cut into the penalty area from the right flank and he tried to curl the ball into the far corner. The Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva was beaten but Marc Bartra was able to clear off the line – that was the best chance for the Black and Reds up to that point (20'). There was great celebration at the BayArena four minutes later when Jeremie Frimpong slipped the ball past the Betis keeper into the net at the end of a wonderful passing move. However, the full-back was in an offside position so the goal was rightly ruled out by VAR.

Diaby breaks deadlock before half-time

And the Andalusians? In the first half they were almost exclusively focused on defending as the Seoane team were clearly the more dominant side who offered the Green and Whites little room for manoeuvre. Nabil Fekir did have a shot on Lukas Hradecky's goal on 35 minutes but the Bayer 04 captain pulled off a great save. The Werkself were convincing in all aspects with a courageous performance and they continued to press for the opening goal. Those efforts were finally rewarded just before half-time: Wirtz lifted the ball into the penalty area from the left to the unmarked Diaby who fired a volley into the back of the net from eleven yards out (42'). The Black and Reds took a deserved lead into the half-time break.

a brace for the frenchman – Fekir hits the bar

There was an extremely lively start to the second 45: First, Edmond Tapsoba pulled off a brilliant tackle to deny Borja Iglesias and, at the other end of the pitch, Demirbay tested Rui Silva with a long-range effort (50'). The ball was again in the visitors net a few minutes later: A shot from Wirtz saw the ball end up with Diaby on the edge of the penalty area and he hit it into the top right corner – the Real Betis defender Viktor Ruiz deflected the shot leaving Rui Silva helpless (52'). Youngster Adli played a big part in this goal with his untiring resolve in the build-up.

The Werkself were lucky on 67 minutes: Fekir hit a free kick from 20 yards out against the bar. The effort from the midfield maestro was the last meaningful effort from the Green and Whites as Jonathan Tah and Co. succeeded in keeping the opponents away from their penalty area after that. Up front, Wirtz sealed the victory shortly before the final whistle: The attacker converted a wonderful pass from Diaby to make it 3-0 (86'). Substitute Nadiem Amiri also got on the scoresheet with the score at 4-0 (90') again after impressive work from Diaby who was undoubtedly the man of the match. Bayer 04 are back to winning ways after four games without a win and have taken a big step towards winning the group.

two red cARDS at the end

There was a really unnecessary incident just before the final whistle when referee Anthony Taylor twice showed the red card at the end of a generally fairly fought encounter: Fekir grabbed Demirbay by the ear and it looked as if he wanted to take it back to Seville as a souvenir. The Leverkusen number ten retaliated by grabbing the Frenchman’s face. A mass confrontation ensued and ended with the referee sending off the two main culprits.

The Werkself are back in action in the capital on Sunday, 7 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET). Diaby and Co. are away to Hertha Berlin. That is followed by the next international break.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong (Kossounou 87'), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie (Sinkgraven 77') – Andrich, Demirbay – Adli (Amiri 77'), Wirtz (Retsos 87'), Diaby – Paulinho (Palacios 68').

Real Betis: Rui Silva – Bellerin, Bartra, Ruiz, Miranda (Moreno 46') – Rodriguez, Carvalho (Canales 46') – Joaquin (Juanmi 79’), Fekir, Ruibal (Rodri 28’) – Borja Iglesias (Willian Jose 71’).

Goals: 1-0 Diaby (42’), 2-0 Diaby (52’), 3-0 Wirtz (86’), 4-0 Amiri (90’)

Booked: Adli, Andrich

Sent off: Demirbay – Fekir

Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

Attendance: 15,208