IVery faulty on the defensive, completely unimaginative up front: Even the new coach Xabi Alonso cannot free Bayer Leverkusen from crisis mode. In the duel of the Champions League participants, the Rhinelanders lost 1: 5 (0: 1) at Eintracht Frankfurt, and there was no sign of the upward trend of the previous week. If Eintracht had better exploited their chances, the defeat could have been even higher.
Daichi Kamada (45′ + 5/72′, each penalty), Randal Kolo Muani (58′), Jesper Lindström (65′) and former Leverkusen player Lucas Alario (86′) scored the fifth home win in a row against the Werkself.
As a result, coach Oliver Glasner’s team moved up to the top group in the Bundesliga and is currently fourth. The frighteningly weak Leverkusen, on the other hand, are still stuck deep in the table basement, the Rhinelanders slipped to relegation place 16.
Piero Hincapie (56th) managed to equalize 1:1 in the meantime. In the 71st minute, Hincapie received a yellow-red card for repeated foul play.
Energetic in duels
“Every game a step forward,” was Alonso’s motto after the defeat in the Champions League against FC Porto. It’s about building a team spirit. “We have to stay together as a team, even in difficult moments,” emphasized the Spaniard. Some of these had to be survived in Frankfurt despite the absence of Eintracht defense chief Makoto Hasebe.
After five minutes, Mario Götze fired a first warning shot just centimeters wide of the post, then Hincapie blocked Kolo Muani (9th), who was already rushing towards the goal after Götze’s strong pass (9th), in dire need. Eintracht started much more vigorously with Kristijan Jakic as the new central link in the back three and won more duels than Bayer 04.
Tempo and ideas were missing
Dangerous chances to score a goal in front of Lukas Hradecky’s goal arose again and again after high ball wins. Jesper Lindström (13′) aimed detached too central, Kolo Muani (28’/42′) failed alone in front of the goal at the former Frankfurter Hradecky.
Despite more game shares, Leverkusen managed almost nothing with the ball, in the offensive game both speed and ideas were missing. Bayer 04 hardly had any chances before Jeremie Frimpong shot into the bar (33′).
Things got strange in injury time after Edmond Tapsoba clearly fouled Lindström in the penalty area. Hradecky parried against Kolo Muani, but left the line too early. The replay then used Kamada. Alonso brought in new players for central midfield in Nadiem Amiri and Kerem Demirbay at the break – but that brought only a temporary improvement.
Hincapie equalized with a diving header from a half-field free-kick, but Kolo Muani promptly replied with a header. Bayer then gave up completely, the SBU now had an easy time.
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