Bayer Leverkusen has found its way back to success in the Bundesliga. After four league games in a row, the Werkself struggled to win 1-0 (1-0) against newly promoted VfL Bochum.
The winless series ended, returned to a Champions League place – but Bayer Leverkusen did not want to be very happy. “I’m not satisfied,” said national player Jonathan Tah after the difficult 1-0 (1-0) win against newly promoted VfL Bochum at Sky, “because we didn’t finish well, not determined enough. And because we were too open. “
With the first three since the beginning of October, the Werkself climbed to fourth place. But the performance was disappointing again, as Tah admitted: “We were lucky.”
Bochum, on the other hand, was loudly celebrated by the thousands of fans who traveled with them – even if they remained in the lower middle of the table after their sixth defeat in seven away games. “The performance was right, the result was unfortunately not”, summarized Christopher Antwi-Adjei: “We had a lot of good attacks, but we didn’t play them off well in the end.” The striking Amine Adli (3rd) scored the only goal of the game, his first in the Bundesliga in a Bayer dress.
Leverkusen pursues usury of opportunities
Seoane was unable to fall back on striker Patrik Schick (torn ankle ligament), who, like Lucas Alario, was still not in the Werkself squad. Without a regular center forward, Adli had to storm together with young international Florian Wirtz before the international break, as he did against Betis Sevilla in the Europa League.
22,538 spectators saw a brisk start in the BayArena. Bochum’s Elvis Rexhbecaj hit the post after just two minutes. Adli did better, who was lucky with his header that VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann only parried the ball just behind the line. Referee Daniel Schlager immediately pointed to his wrist, where the goal-line technology confirmed the full circumference of the ball behind the goal line.
Bochum was by no means shocked by the early deficit. Eduard Löwen tested Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky with a free kick (8th). As a result, Leverkusen developed a slight overweight and should have increased it through Wirtz, who after a nice pass from Robert Andrich headed completely free standing next to the goal (16.).
Bochum better after the break
This just didn’t take revenge because Takuma Asano’s shot was blocked by Sebastian Polter (26th). As is so often the case this season, Leverkusen had to be accused of failing to exploit its top-class chances. Wirtz narrowly missed again from a good position, shortly before the break Daley Sinkgraven failed free-standing on the strongly reacting Riemann.
After the break, Bochum had more of the game without emitting great danger against very passive Leverkusen. An overall disappointing Bavarian countered far advanced guests in their own stadium. Wirtz missed the huge chance for the preliminary decision after a long solo run (56th). Hradecky was tested on the opposite side by Christopher Antwi-Adjei (58th) and Asano (62nd / 67th).
Bayer Leverkusen – VfL Bochum: votes
Gerardo Seoane (coach Bayer Leverkusen): “Compliments to the team. It was the difficult game expected. We didn’t want an open game, it was an open exchange. We have a lot of situations that we don’t play well. But we had clearer chances and therefore deserved to win. “
Thomas Reis (coach VfL Bochum): “It’s hard to make a statement. In the end, I can’t really blame my team. A development can be seen. We tried to withstand the pressure. We have to keep working to make better use of the switching moments. One point would have been deserved. We will collect our points to achieve our goals. “
